Feasibility of Paper Production from Oil Palm Trunk Using Arrowroot Flour as a Binder

Oil palm trunk is lignocellulose biomass and agricultural residual waste that has not been utilized to its maximum potential. The feasibility of paper production from oil palm trunk (OPT) was studied for one alternative application. OPT was treated with 8% (w/v) alkaline solution (NaOH), subsequently with a different concentration of H₂O₂ solution (2, 4, 6 and 8% w/v). The results showed that the brown color of OPP was converted to a pale yellow color after bleaching with H₂O₂ while hemicellulose and lignin were also removed. Arrowroot flour was used as a binder for mold oil palm paper. The optimum condition for oil palm paper production was 15% (w/v) NaOH for 60 min then 6 % (v/v) H₂O₂ for 30 min. The obtained OPP paper showed a density of 183.53 ± 1.86 g/cm³, a water absorption of 0.0904 ± 0.0010 mL/cm², a tensile index of 2.60 ± 0.07 Nm/g and a burst index of 1.22 ± 0.04 kPa m²/g. All value properties of the obtained OPP paper showed that the OPP value was lower than that of available commercial Kraft paper (KI125 and KT125). Meanwhile, this OPP paper process could continuously improve to be a container formation.