Isolation of Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) from Oil Palm Frond as Potential Natural Filler for PVA-LiClO4 Polymer Electrolyte

In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was extracted from organosolv oil palm fronds (OPF) pulp via acid hydrolysis method. The isolated OPF-MCC were characterized using complementary analysis such as FTIR, CP/MAS C-13 NMR, XRD, GPC, TGA, DSC, SEM and N-2-BET. It was found that the isolated OPFMCC was identified as cellulose type I polymorph with high crystallinity index than a-cellulose (CrIOPF MCC : 76.38 % > CrI alpha-cellulose : 73.37 %). The obtained OPFMCC was then incorporated with PVA-LiClO4 at different LiClO4 loading (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 %) through solution casting technique to produce biodegradable polymer electrolytes of OPFMCC-PVA-LiClO4. The fabricated films were further analyzed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). It interesting to note that, a maximum conductivity was found to be 1.88 x 10(-4) S cm(-1) for OPF MCC-PVA-20 % LiClO4 with electrochemical stability window potential around 1.9 V.