Isolation and characterization of Cellulose Nanofiber from Subang Pineapple Leaf Fiber waste produced using Ultrafine Grinding method

Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) is one of natural fibres that has high cellulose content. However, pineapple plants must be replaced with new plants once it is harvested, leaving the leaves as waste. In this research, the isolation and characterization of Subang based PALF were conducted. Chemical pre-treatments including alkaline treatment with Sodium Hydroxide and bleaching to remove nanocellulosic constituents such as lignin and hemicellulose were conducted. This process was followed by mechanical treatment using ultrafine grinder to produce cellulose nanofiber (CNF). Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images showed that the CNF had 45-75 nm in diameters. The percentage crystallinity was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The crystallinity values of raw PALF, treated PALF, and CNF were 74.97%, 76,29%, and 69.52% respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis was carried out to investigate the chemical structure changes after both chemical and mechanical treatments. The presence of a peak that related to cellulose confirmed that the process was well conducted. These results indicated that PALF waste could become added value to agricultural waste and expected to become reinforcement agent in nanocomposite for structural application since PALF had low aspect ratio and had high percentage crystallinity values.