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Cellulose from Oil Palm Empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber was hydrothermally treated by using autoclave which is immersed in an oil bath at 160 °C for 6 h. OPEFB cellulose was mixed with aqueous urea and stirred for 30 min to obtain a homogenous mixture before transferred into the autoclave. The effect of different cellulose to urea mass ratio (1:4, 1:6 and 1:8) on the molecular weight, degree of polymerization and solubility of the treated cellulose dissolved in NaOH and urea solvent system was studied. The result shows that the solubility of cellulose from OPEFB fiber increased while the molecular weight of cellulose decreased due to the pretreatment done on the OPEFB fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissolution of kenaf core cellulose was undergone in NaOH/Urea solvent and the cellulose solution was casted with three different thicknesses (0.04 mm, 0.06 mm and 0.07 mm) followed by coagulation in 5% of H2SO4 to form regenerated cellulose membrane. The XRD results showed that the crystallinity index (CrI) of kenaf core cellulose membrane decreased after been regenerated into cellulose II. The surface morphology showed that the pores of the membrane became smaller as the thickness of cellulose membrane increased. The transparency tests demonstrated the thinner samples (0.04 mm) gave higher light transmittance than the thickest samples (0.07 mm). The kenaf core membrane with 0.07 mm thickness possessed highest tensile strength and breaking elongation at σ = 33.48 and ε = 8.03 relatively and also exhibited the largest pore size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentration of extracted free sugar in the oil palm trunk from inner and outer part was analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The highest sugar concentration was glucose and total sugar content was higher in the inner part than the outer part. The methanolysis reaction of extracted sapfrom inner and outer part of core oil palm trunk using phosphomolybdic acid and aluminium sulphate was done using methanol as solvent, 2.5 h and at 160°C. In this reaction, conversion of total sugar produced high concentrations of pentanoic acid, 4-oxo-, methyl ester and low 5- hydroxymethylfurfural using aluminium sulphate as catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a series of nanostructured magnetic cobalt ferrite were synthesized by hydrothermal method using stable ferric and cobalt salts with sodium hydroxide as the surfactant. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were employed to evaluate the structural properties of synthesized nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the cobalt ferrite nanoparticles had a single-phase spinel structure. From the analysis of the powder X-ray diffraction patterns, the average crystallite size was calculated using the Scherrer formula. The results showed that the average crystallite size is in the range of 63-74 nm increases, depending on the annealing temperature and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the effect of using reducing agents with different chain-length on the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of iron (III) acetylacetonate in 1-octadecene. This modification allows us to control the shape of nanoparticles into spherical and cubic iron oxide nanoparticles. The highly monodisperse 14 nm spherical nanoparticles are obtained under 1,2-dodecanediol and average 14 nm edge-length cubic iron oxide nanoparticles are obtained under 1,2-tetradecanediol. The structural characterization such as transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows similar properties between two particles with different shapes. The vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) shows no significant difference between spherical and cubic nanoparticles, which are 36 emu/g and 37 emu/g respectively and superparamagnetic in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose was extracted from kenaf core pulp (KCP) by series of bleaching steps in the sequence (DEED) where D and E are referred as acid and alkali treatment. The bleached kenaf pulp (BKCP) is then pretreated with acid hydrolysis at room temperature for 1 and 3 h respectively. The pretreated cellulose is dissolved in lithium hydroxide/urea (LiOH/urea) and cellulose solution produced was immersed in distilled water bath. BKCP without treatment was also conducted for comparison purpose. The effects of acid hydrolysis pretreatment on solubility and crystallinity are investigated. Higher solubility of cellulose solution is achieved for treated samples. Cellulose II formation and crystallinity index of the cellulose membrane were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary study on microwave-assisted hydrolysis of deproteinated palm kernel cake (DPKC) to produce oligosaccharides using succinic acid was performed. Three important factors, i.e., temperature, acid concentration and reaction time, were selected to carry out the hydrolysis processes. Results showed that the highest yield of DPKC-derived oligosaccharides can be obtained at a parameter 170 °C, 0.2 N SA and 20 min of reaction time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) has three different crystal polymorphs, which are calcite, aragonite and vaterite. In this study, effect of reaction temperature on polymorphs and crystallite structure of CaCO3 was investigated. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and variable pressure scanning electron microscope (VPSEM) were used to characterize the obtained CaCO3 particles. The obtained results showed that CaCO3 with different crystal and particle structures can be formed by controlling the temperature during the synthesis process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pure rutile phase titanium oxides (TiO2) nanocrystals were synthesized via hydrothermal method with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) and water (H2O) treated in an autoclave. The particle size and phase assemblages were characterized using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. Band gap energy (Eg) of the nanocrystals was estimated from the Ultra violet - visible light (UV-vis) absorption spectra. It was demonstrated that TiO2 nanocrystals can be prepared through increasing of temperature and period of treatment. It is believed that the presence of acid chloride (HCl) as by-product during the hydrolysis played an important role in controlling the growth of morphology and crystal structures. The Eg of the samples were estimated from the plot of modified Kubelka-Munk function were in the range of 3.04 - 3.26eV for the samples synthesized at temperature ranging from 50 to 200°C for 16 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A preliminary study on the reaction between aqueous resole type resinified liquefied palm oil empty fruit bunches fibres (RLEFB) with epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) . Liquefaction of empty fruit bunches (EFB) is carried out at different ratio of phenol to EFB (P:EFB). Resole type phenolic resin is prepared using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as the catalyst with the ratio of liquefied EFB (LEFB) to formaldehyde (LEFB:F) of 1:1.8. 50% epoxidation of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR-50) is used to react with resole resin by mixing with ENR with aqueous resole resin. The cured resin is characterized with FT-IR and SEM. Aqueous system have been found to be unsuitable medium in the reaction between resin and ENR. This system produced a highly porous product when RLEFB/ENR resin is cured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the adaptation and evaluation of one chemical tests for tannins characterization in acacia mangium bark. Acid butanol test developed to identify respectively condensed tannins is described. The two traditional tests used for tannin characterization namely ferric test and vanillin test were also performed and their functional also discussed. Condensed tannins were extracted from acacia mangium bark using water medium in presence of three different concentration basic reagent of NaOH(5%,10% and 15%) and were characterized by FT-IR spectrometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]