Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was successfully prepared from bleached kenaf bast fiber through hydrochloric acid hydrolysis. The influence of hydrolysis time (1 to 3 h) on the MCC physicochemical properties was examined. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were utilized to characterize the isolated MCC. According to FTIR analysis, the chemical composition of MCC was not changed with the reaction time. The reaction times, however, did affect the thermal stability of MCC. The thermal stability decreased linearly with increasing hydrolysis time. The optimum hydrolysis time was determined based on the morphological, structural, and thermal properties of the kenaf bast MCC.
The aim of this study is to utilize the bio-agricultural waste as filler material for composite production which are abundantly available and low cost compared to the silica, alumina etc. The lacks of sufficient scientific information about the utilization of the oil palm ash (OPA) on composites production were the driving force for the choice of this work. Furthermore, the effect of filler loading percentage on physical, mechanical, thermal and morphology properties of the epoxy nanocomposites were studied. It was concluded that the size of the OPA had been successfully reduced from macromolecular to the nano-size range by high energy ball milling and was confirmed by TEM analysis. The density of the nano-structured OPA filled epoxy composites revealed that increasing filler loading will eventually increase the density. The tensile and flexural strength attained maximum value when the filler loading was 3%. Also, increase in the thermal stability was observed in case of 3% filler loading and was attributed to the increase in cross-linking of the epoxy resin in the presence of nanostuctured OPA and having minimum particle to particle interaction and well dispersed nanoparticles.
Oil palm shell (OPS) nanoparticles were utilized as filler in fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composites. The OPS nanoparticles were successfully produced from the raw OPS using high-energy ball milling process. Fundamental properties including morphology, crystalline size, and particle size of the OPS nanoparticles were determined. Tri-layer natural fiber reinforcement (kenaf-coconut-kenaf fiber mat) polyester hybrid composites were prepared by hand lay-up techniques. The influences of the OPS nanoparticles loading in the natural fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composites were determined by analyzing physical, mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties of the composites. Results showed that the incorporation of the OPS nanoparticles into the hybrid composites enhanced the composite properties. Further, the natural fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composite had the highest physical, mechanical, morphological, and thermal characteristics at 3 wt.% OPS nanoparticles loading.
In this study, a green composite was produced from Oil Palm Trunk Lumber (OPTL) by impregnating oil palm shell (OPS) nanoparticles with formaldehyde resin. The changes of physical, mechanical and morphological properties of the OPS nanoparticles impregnated OPTL as a result of natural weathering was investigated. The OPS fibres were ground with a ball-mill for producing nanoparticles before being mixed with the phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin at a concentration of 1, 3, 5 and 10% w/w basis and impregnated into the OPTL by vacuum-pressure method. The treated OPTL samples were exposed to natural weathering for the period of 6 and 12 months in West Java, Indonesia according to ASTM D1435-99 standard. Physical and mechanical tests were done for analyzing the changes in phenol formaldehyde-nanoparticles impregnated (PF-NPI) OPTL. FT-IR and SEM studies were done to analyze the morphological changes. The results showed that both exposure time of weathering and concentration of PF-NPI had significant impact on physical and mechanical properties of OPTL. The longer exposure of samples to weathering condition reduced the wave numbers during FT-IR test. However, all these physical, mechanical and morphological changes were significant when compared with the untreated samples or only PF impregnated samples. Thus, it can be concluded that PF-NP impregnation into OPTL improved the resistance against natural weathering and would pave the ground for improved products from OPTL for outdoor conditions.
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