Synthesis and Characterization of Cellulose Acetate from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (OPEFB) as Membrane Material

Abstract

Indonesia is the world’s largest palm oil producer and exporter, can produce 230 kg of OPEFB. The utilization of OPEFB is still at 10%, even though OPEFB is composed of 37.26% cellulose. This research aims to find out how to synthesize and characterize cellulose acetate from OPEFB cellulose into membrane material. The synthesis of cellulose acetate using the acetylation method is carried out in several processes. The activation process expands the surface of the cellulose fibers. The acetylation process is intended to substitute cellulose hydroxyl groups with acetyl groups. The hydrolysis removes some acetyl groups from trimester cellulose and reduces the combination of sulfate esters. In the results of FTIR analysis, carbonyl groups (C=O) and acetyl groups (C-O) have high peak depths in OPEFB cellulose acetate. Based on the calculation of acetyl content, OPEFB cellulose acetate has an acetyl content of 39.82% with a degree of substitution of 2.44. The results of XRD analysis show that OPEFB cellulose acetate has a crystallinity index of 34.5%. In TGA analysis, the thermal stability of cellulose acetate is up to a temperature of 210°C. Based on the research results, OPEFB cellulose can be synthesized into cellulose acetate using the acetylation method.