A complete isolation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from palm oil trunk (POT)

Abstract

Cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin compounds were isolated from oil palm trunk by acidic organosolvent treatment followed by hydrogen peroxide bleaching and two stage precipitation. The organosolvent treatment ensures the purity of cellulose as well as recovery of hemicelluloses and lignincompounds. Organic acids were more effective than alcohols on the degradation of lignin and hemicelluloses. Formic acid/acetic acid/water (30/60/10,v/v/v) system was found to be the most effective in delignification and the removal of non-cellulose polysaccharides from the OPB, and did not haveany undesirable effects on lignocellulosic compound properties such as its molecular structure and thermal stability. By using 0.1% HCl as a catalyst at85 o C for 4 h, the treatment removed 94.1% of the original lignin and 76.5% of the original hemicelluloses. The cyanamide activated hydrogen peroxide bleaching degraded substantial amounts of residual hemicelluloses and lignin, produced the cellulose samples having a relatively high purity. Under a best condition, the isolation process yielded relatively amount (% dry weight) of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin which are 41.37%, 15.7% and16.43% respectively. Cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin from both preparations were further characterized by FTIR analysis and TGA analysis.