Indonesia is the world’s second largest producer of coconut. This at the same time resulted in huge generation of coconut shell waste that need to be properly managed to prevent environmental contamination such as water, air and soil pollution. Current techniques of physical and thermal processing are time and energy consuming. This study reports on the conversion of coconut shell biomass into biochar using microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP). The MAP processes were carried out at different microwave power (550-650W) and   residence time (15-25 minutes). Two of the highest biochar yields were obtained at 550W with the residence times of 15 minutes (91.31 wt%, termed as S1) and 20 minutes (83.88 wt%, termed as S2), respectively. Both values were higher than biochar yield obtained using conventional pyrolysis process i.e. 30.10 wt%. Both S1 and S2 showed considerable capacity to remove 0.6875 mg.g-1 and 0.5165 mg.g-1 methylene blue which had the initial concentration of 25 mg.L-1. The adsorption efficiencies of S1 and S2 biochars were 55.00% and 41.32%, respectively. Results obtained from the FTIR, FESEM and BET analysis also supported the methylene blue removal properties of both S1 and S2, respectively. As a conclusion, coconut shell showed potential as a useful raw material to produce biochar that can be used for methylene blue removal from solution. Nevertheless, more investigation need to be carried out prior to commercialization venture of the coconut-shell based biochar.

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Palm oil plantation is one of the largest cultivation in Malaysia. The massive production of palm oil has abandoned huge palm oil biomass such as palm kernel shell that has become increasingly threatening environmental issue. Conversion of biomass through microwave pyrolysis has become one of the solutions to manage the abundance of biomass. Therefore, the aim of this study is to utilize the palm kernel shell for the production of pyroligneous acid (PA) by using microwave-assisted pyrolysis which would then be evaluated for its total phenolic content and scavenging DPPH free radicals. Pyroligneous acid of palm kernel shell will be produced from the condensation of smoke generated during pyrolysis process. From this study, the TPC observed was 49.96 mg GAE/g, whereas for the IC50, DPPH value obtained was, 66.19 µg/mL. Pyroligneous acid produced during the pyrolysis process has the potential to apply in various applications and could serve as an alternative eco-friendly source of natural antioxidant.

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