Characterization of Different Parts of Oil Palm Fronds (Elaeis Guineensis) and Its Properties

Abstract

The study was conducted on characterizing the properties of oil palm fronds (Elaeis guineensis) from different parts. The fronds were cut to three parts which were the top, middle and bottom. The samples were chipped, dried in the oven of 50 °C and ground before they were characterized. The properties of the fronds were characterized using thermal gravimetric analyser (TGA), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The results from TGA showed that the bottom part of the frond had the lowest percentage of residues which was 29.22 % and the degradation temperature was 194.17 °C. The FTIR spectra showed almost similar peaks for all samples. The bottom part of the frond had the highest crystallinity index which was 35.26 %. The study proved that different parts of the frond had different characteristics due to its chemical compositions.