Utilization of Coconut Fiber
Coconut fiber is an important part of coconuts with a portion of 35% of the total weight of coconuts.
Coconut fiber has a high enough cellulose content so that the fiber can be used as a pulping material, which can then be used in the manufacture of composite paper consisting of a mixture of coconut fiber pulp and HVS-forming pulp.
This study aims to study the effect of hydrolysis time and NaOH concentration on alpha cellulose content, and to study the characteristics of composite paper.
First, the pulp made from coconut fiber with variations in hydrolysis time and NaOH concentration. Furthermore, the pulp from coco fiber which has the highest level of alpha cellulose mixed with pulp from waste paper is used as a raw material in the manufacture of composite paper.
Then the composite paper formed was tested for its characteristics including: tensile strength, ink absorption ability, writing ability, and durability.
From the results of the study, it was found that the pulp with the desired quality, namely pulp with an alpha cellulose content of 94.24%, was achieved with the operating conditions: hydrolysis time of 4 hours and NaOH concentration of 6%.
In addition, paper with relatively good quality is achieved with a mixture composition of coco fiber pulp: pulp from waste paper HVS = 20:80.
The paper has a tensile strength = 65.28x106N/m2 and the paper can be written on.