Cellulose derived from oil palm empty fruit bunches as filler on polyvinylidene fluoride based membrane for water containing humic acid treatment

Humic acid (HA) is one of natural organic compound existed in soils which contributes to create unpleasant odor, taste and color in drinking water. Efforts have been developed to eliminate this substance, one of which is membrane technology. In this present study, we have successfully fabricated PVDF and PVDF/cellulose membranes through phase inversion method. The cellulose extracted from oil-palm empty fruit bunches was in two different dimension, namely microcrystalline- (MCC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). The physicochemical properties of the membrane were evaluated in this study. It was found that the hydrophilicity of the membrane was elevated by the presence of cellulose filler. This also led to reduce the porosity of the membrane, but on the other hand increase the pure water flux. The study revealed that by incorporating 1% of MCC (PMC1) improved the rejection performance toward HA, above 90%. In addition, PMC1 membrane has a higher Flux Recovery Ratio (FRR) value than other membranes. Thus, for further applications, especially in water treatment, PMC1 membranes are highly recommended. [Display omitted] •Extraction of Micro- and Nano-cellulose from OPEFB was achieved.•Both Micro- and Nano-cellulose were incorporated into the PVDF membrane.•Hydrophilicity, pure water flux, humic acid rejection, and FRR of PVDF containing 1% Micro-cellulose were improved.