2. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
TGA is used to determine the thermal stability of POCP. This measurement is carried out using 16.348 mg samples at inert atmosphere using N2 gas with a flow of 100 ml/minute. The heating rate was 10 °C/minute from 100 °C to 950 °C. Previous studies found that palm oil waste materials consist of sugar based polymer like cellulose and hemicelluloses which combine with lignin, protein, starch and inorganic phases. The composition of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and extractives are 32.6%, 22.1%, 42.3% and 3.0% in palm oil plants. The TGA curve of POCP is shown in. Initially, the process removes water and high volatile (like, ‘light’ and ‘oily’) biopolymer from POCP during the heating up to 170 °C. The first major mass loss was observed in the temperature range from 340 °C to 580 °C due to degradation of lignin and cellulose and minimal contribution through the decomposition of
CaCO3.