Indonesian researchers make breakthrough on pineapple leaf as biofuel feedstock

In Indonesia, various pulping methods, such as Kraft, sulfite, and soda, have been adopted to produce cellulose from lignocelluloses. Pulping methods such as semi-chemical, sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, and organosolv and sulfite acid have been employed in the time past. However, the chemical method has been used extensively to isolate cellulose from plant biomass, and the realization of the direct relationship between the pulping chemicals and the characteristics of the produced cellulose has triggered more research on the use of different chemicals and chemical mixtures for the production of cellulose. Sodium hydroxide solution is mainly used for delignify cation and cellulose extraction during pulping.

However, the low lignin removal and carbohydrate peeling effect of sodium hydroxide pulping are some of its drawbacks. To enhance the properties of cellulose, sodium hydroxide pulping has been modified by adding some other chemicals. Adding ethanol to soda pulping has been reported to increase the lignin removal and yield and produced a better result than using kraft pulping chemicals in ethanol production. The search for chemicals or chemical mixtures that could positively influence the properties of cellulose has been pivotal in various research on chemical pulping. Modifying the soda pulping method could produce cellulose with better properties than cellulose produced with either soda or soda anthraquinone pulping chemical. Ethanol and anthraquinone have been combined singly with soda, but there needs to be more information on the use of soda, ethanol and anthraquinone mixture for cellulose production.

In a new study, researchers from UNAIR with instrumental investigation using scanning electron microscopy, ImageJ software, X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared, and thermogravimetric analysis was carried out to elucidate surface morphology, fiber diameter, crystallinity, the functional group (with FTIR-derived crystallinity), and thermal stability of cellulose produced from pineapple leaf and siam weed (chromolaena odorata) stem as influenced by sodium hydroxide-anthraquinone-ethanol and sodium hydroxide-anthraquinone pulping chemicals.