By combining the waste of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and graphene oxide (GO), a GO/cellulose aerogel bio-nanocomposite was produced via a simple mixing method. The thermal properties of this nanocomposite were examined using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the GO/cellulose aerogel bio-nanocomposite exhibited good thermal stability indicated by a delay in the degradation of the nanocomposite even at low GO incorporation. Experimental and modeled TGA curves were compared. The morphology of the GO/cellulose aerogel composite was observed under field emission scanning electron microscope. In GO/cellulose aerogel composite with 4 wt% GO, the pore volume and porosity decreased by more than 50% compared to aerogel without GO, and the density of the 4 wt% GO/cellulose aerogel composite showed a onefold increase compared with the pure cellulose aerogel. The degree of swelling and equilibrium-swelling ratio of regenerated GO/cellulose hydrogel and aerogel decreased with the higher GO concentration. The phase transition from EFB to regenerated GO/cellulose aerogel composite was evaluated using X-ray diffraction. This study has provided a simple pathway to produce environmentally friendly biocomposite materials.

The factors responsible for the low solubility percentage of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) cellulose pulp compared to kenaf when dissolved in aqueous NaOH/urea solvent system was reported. Physical and chemical properties of both cellulose pulp were studied and compared in terms of the lignin content, viscosity average molecular weight (M?), crystallinity index (CrI), cellulose pulp structure and their zero span tensile strength. The structure of both OPEFB and kenaf cellulose pulp were characterized using high powered microscope and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) assisted by ImageJ® software. The results show that the most significant factor that affected the OPEFB and kenaf cellulose dissolution in NaOH/-urea solvent was the M? with OPEFB having a higher M? of 1.68×105 compared to 5.53 × 104 for kenaf. Overall, kenaf cellulose appeared to be produced in higher quantities presumably due to its lower molecular weight with superior tensile strength and permeability in comparison to OPEFB.

A green regenerated superabsorbent hydrogel was fabricated with mixtures of dissolved oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) in NaOH/urea system. The formation of hydrogel was aided with epichlorohydrin (ECH) as a crosslinker. The resultant regenerated hydrogel was able to swell >80,000% depending on the NaCMC concentrations. The hydrogel absorbed water rapidly upon exposure to water up to 48 h and gradually declined after 72 h. The crosslinked of covalent bond of Csingle bondOsingle bondC between dissolved EFB cellulose (EFBC) with NaCMC was confirmed with Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy. Crystallinity and thermal stability of the hydrogel samples were depended on the concentrations of NaCMC, crosslinking, and swelling process. The strength and stability of crosslinked network was studied by examining the gel fraction of hydrogel. This study explored the swelling ability and probable influenced factors towards physical and chemical properties of hydrogel.