Production Of Natural Silica From Oil Palm Trunk (Elaeis Guineensis) Core (Optc) As A Novelty Material In The Antifoam Formulation

Antifoam agent is a chemical additive that function to suppress, prevent and stabilize the foam formation that produced during industrial process. Silicone based antifoam is antifoam that consist of silica compound blended with silicone oil. Generally, silica being used in the formulation of antifoam to enhance the efficiency of antifoam formulation. Unfortunately, since most of this silica resource is coming from a synthetic materials it was considered as chemical additives that leads to the contamination of medium in the bioreactor and decrease the quality of the product. Thus, in this present study, natural silica from oil palm trunk core was extract and used in the formulation of antifoam due to natural resource and abundant amount of oil palm wastes that produced during the agricultural activities. The physical and chemical characteristics of natural silica were investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Braunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). Through the FTIR analysis, it was found that the presence of Si-O-Si bond in the analyse samples. Besides, XRF analysis also showed 9.32% of silicon contain in the sample. The surface area of the natural silica from OPTC was determined by BET test, which the result shown is low BET surface area, 5.009 m2/g. Dehyrdation of water occurred during the TGA at temperature 100°C. Next, the natural silica blended with silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS)) was formulated and performance of this silicone based antifoam agent was determined. The efficiency of the antifoams on the surfactant were observed using several methods. As a results, silicone antifoam blended with natural silica showed potential in preventing the foaming although it required further research in order to suppress the formation of form completely.
Keywords: Natural silica, Polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS), Oil palm core, Silicone based antifoam