Isolation of cellulose from salacca midrib fibers by chemical treatments

Salacca midrib fibers (SMF) have potential as a new source of cellulosic material. The method of isolate cellulose from SMF carried out by the different stages of chemical treatment. First stage is alkalization using sodium hydroxide and then second stage is bleaching treatment using hydrogen peroxide. The chemical composition analysis of SMF was determined at different stages of chemical treatments. Physical analysis was carried out by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Change in surface morphologies of fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Isolation process of cellulose from SMF by alkali and bleaching treatments successfully increased content of α-cellulose, decreased content of lignin and increased percentage of index crystallinity of fibers.