Enhanced Delignification of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibers with in situ Fenton-oxidation

Abstract

The degradation of lignin in oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers by a low concentration of H2O2 was observed with the assistance of Fenton oxidation with Fe(III), Fe(0), and Fe3O4 as a catalyst. To escalate the oxidation activity toward lignin in the EFB fibers, the uptake of the Fenton reagent on the EFB fibers for in situ Fenton oxidation was optimized with fitted Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. The efficiency of assisted Fenton reagents was monitored through controlled parameters of H2O2 concentration, retention time, and increment of Fenton reagents. The delignification was observed with up to 71.2% of lignin degradation compared to 47.2% without the use of the Fenton reagents. The characteristics of EFB fibers after the oxidation process were changed based on the observation of morphological and chemical properties. The oxidation concurrently dislodged part of the silica bodies and disrupted specific functional groups and the crystallinity of the EFB fibers.

3D Printing of UV-Curable Polyurethane Incorporated with Surface-Grafted Nanocellulose

“…The isolation of cellulose was performed in accordance with the protocol of a previous study [22,23]. In further detail, oil palm EFB were reacted with formic acid (90% w/v) at a 1:30 weight ratio at 95 • C for 2 h. The experiments were performed in three-necked flat-bottomed flasks equipped with a condenser.…”

Telescopic synthesis of cellulose nanofibrils with a stable dispersion of Fe(0) nanoparticles for synergistic removal of 5-fluorouracil

“…Ergo, the chemical and electrocatalytic activities during the depolymerization of lignocellulosic materials augment cellulose recovery and facilitate the development of more promising substances 10–13 . Meanwhile, Fenton oxidation deconstructs lignin polymers and can further depolymerize cellulosic as well as hemicellulosic substances under mild conditions 14–16 .…”

Oleophilicity and Oil-Water Separation by Reduced Graphene Oxide Grafted Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibres

“…Whereas, the pretreated fibers by alkaline-oxidization (Figure 1(d)) before coated with GO shows more porous structure by the visible lumen of the fibers. The porosity of treated fibers shows the successful removal of wax, lignin and silica through delignification process (Santanaraj et al 2017).…”

“…After the alkaline treatment, 2 wt. % of H 2 O 2 was added and stirred for 24 h until all oxidation reaction has been performed (Santanaraj et al 2017). Then, the treated fibers were washed with deionized water to remove the excesses of H 2 O 2 and NaOH.…”

“…EFB/AO-rGO shows an increment of water uptake in comparison with EFB-rGO even though the modified fibers have been coated with the rGO. This might be a result of alkalineoxidation treatment towards the fiber lumen exposure and allowed physical absorption between the fibers and water (Santanaraj et al 2017). Subsequently, the diminution of the water uptake by chemically modified EFB fibers has been resulted in the increasing of the oil uptake up to 75.7% in comparison with 44.9% of untreated fibers.…”