Chemical modification on lignocellulosic polymeric oil palm empty fruit bunch for advanced material

Oil palm fiber empty fruit bunch (EFB) was chemically treated with benzyl chloride (bz‐efb) and ethylene oxide (E‐efb) at different reaction temperatures (100 and 110°C for bz‐efb; 55, 85, and 92°C for E‐efb). The SEM micrographs of bz‐efb and E‐efb samples showed tremendous changes in morphological structure such as plastic properties as the reaction temperature was increased. The crystallinity (by XRD) and Tg of the reacted fibers were found to decrease as the reaction temperature increased. The FT‐IR of the reacted samples show that the chemical reactions have taken place between cellulose hydroxyl groups and bz‐efb and E‐efb, respectively.