<![CDATA[This study aims to investigate the optical and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) as a renewable lignocellulosic biomass for sustainable functional materials. NCC was synthesized through sequential delignification, bleaching, and sulfuric acid hydrolysis at concentrations of 30 wt% and 40 wt%. The resulting NCC was characterized using UV–Vis spectroscopy and tensile testing. UV–Vis analysis showed absorption peaks at 292, 291, and 289 nm for commercial NCC, OPEFB-derived NCC hydrolyzed with 30 wt% H₂SO₄, and OPEFB-derived NCC hydrolyzed with 40 wt% H₂SO₄, respectively. Tauc plot analysis yielded estimated optical band gap energies of 4.25, 4.26, and 4.29 eV, respectively. Tensile testing showed that the commercial NCC exhibited the highest tensile strength and Young’s modulus, whereas the OPEFB-derived NCC showed lower mechanical performance. The NCC hydrolyzed with 30 wt% H₂SO₄ exhibited a tensile strength of 9.65 MPa and a Young’s modulus of 0.330 GPa, while the 40 wt% H₂SO₄ sample exhibited values of 3.99 MPa and 0.176 GPa, respectively. Increasing the sulfuric acid concentration resulted in a slight increase in the estimated optical band gap but a decrease in tensile strength and Young’s modulus. Among the hydrolysis conditions investigated, 30 wt% H₂SO₄ provided a more balanced combination of optical and mechanical properties. These findings indicate that OPEFB can serve as a renewable precursor for the development of cellulose-based functional materials and provide a basis for further investigation of their structural and functional properties.]]>
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