ABSTRACT Cellulose has many advantages
such as abundant in nature, inexhaustible, low cost, easy processing,
renewable, biodegradable and biocompatible. The most interesting effect is its
positive environmental impact. It is also a renewable resource whose further
production requires little energy. Thus, more eco-friendly method needs to be
used to extract the cellulose. Pineapple leaf and kapok fiber are chosen in
this study, since both reported to have a high composition of cellulose. In
this study, extraction and characterization were carried out to obtain pure
cellulose fiber from pineapple leaf (Annanus cosomus) and kapok (Ceiba
Pentandra (L.)) using eco-friendly method namely as dissolution in deep
eutectic solvent (DES), which compose from choline chloride and urea. Chemical
analysis and physico-chemical characteristics of raw and produced materials
were investigated with the help of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The FTIR results show that
the treatment by dissolution in DES method removed most of the hemicellulose
and lignin from the raw pineapple leaf and kapok fiber. Chemical analysis also
showed that 83.5% and 53.4% of cellulose contains in raw fiber of pineapple and
kapok respectively. Meanwhile, the extracted fiber of pineapple and kapok
containing 97.7% and 92.1% of cellulose respectively. TGA demonstrated that
cellulose extracted from dissolution in DES method has higher thermal stability
compared to raw fiber. Obtaining pure cellulose from natural fiber, including
pineapple and kapok fiber is essential due to its potential in various
applications.
Keywords: crystallinity index, deep
eutectic solvent, kapok, pineapple leaf, thermogravimetric analysis.
