Water absorbency of oil palm empty fruit bunch paper

Abstract

Paper-making raw materials are a mixture of pure wood pulp and recycled pulp. Recycled pulp is obtained from used paper imported from abroad, in addition to the development of paperless culture also has an impact on the reduced availability of raw materials. Empty bunch fiber of palm oil is one of the natural materials that have the potential to be used as an alternative to a pulp for the manufacture of cardboard paper because it has a high holocellulose content. This study has successfully developed cardboard paper developed from oil palm empty fruit bunch pulp with 6 variations of treatment, steam, no steam, NaOH 2.5%, NaOH 5% and mill duration (20 minutes and 30 minutes). The developed cardboard paper is then tested for its water absorbency. Water Absorbency value testing is done by the Cobb method (60). Based on the test results obtained the water absorption values is in the range of 500 - 600 g/m2. Cartons that received treatment, no steam, added NaOH 2.5%, and milled for 30 minutes, has the lowest water absorption value compared to others.