Sulfated Zirconia Catalyst for Hydrolysis of Palm Oil Lignocellulosic Wastes

The waste plant materials remaining from palm oil extraction consist of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. They are potential sources of cellulose, which can be used as raw material for production of fermentable sugar. In this study, a single stage of heterogeneous acid catalyst hydrolysis were carried out in ionic liquid solution over sulfated zirconia catalysts prepared by modified sol gel method. Among the sulfated zirconia catalysts tested, sulfated zirconia prepared by SFE showed the highest hydrolysis catalytic activity up to 37.20% in EFB treated and 53.95% in frond treated. In addition, the process variable of reaction time hydrolysis was also investigated over both sulfated zirconia catalyst. The objective of this research is to do catalytic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic waste by using sulfated zirconia catalyst prepared by sol gel method.