Comparative study on chemical composition, physical, tensile, and thermal properties of sugar palm fiber (Arenga pinnata) obtained from different geographical locations

Abstract

Physical, mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties of sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) fiber were investigated for specimens obtained from three different locations: Kuala Jempol (Peninsular Malaysia), Tawau (West Malaysia), and Tasik Malaya (Indonesia). The morphology of the fiber were observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the thermal properties by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), tensile properties according to ASTM D3379, and chemical analysis by using neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF). This study confirmed that in sugar palm fiber, the highest chemical content of cellulose resulted in the highest strength and thermal stability of the fiber. Fiber originating from Kuala Jempol had the highest cellulose content of 44.53%, followed by Indonesia (44.47%) and Tawau (43.75%). Kuala Jempol fiber (233.28 MPa) also had the highest tensile strength, followed by Indonesia (211.03 MPa) and Tawau (201.30 MPa), which was affected by the cellulose content in the fiber. Thus, fiber originating from Kuala Jempol had better quality than the others as a reinforcement material in manufacturing of polymer composites.

Comparative study of physical, mechanical, and thermal properties on sugar palm fiber (Arenga pinnata (Wurmb) Merr.) reinforced vinyl ester composites obtained from different geographical locations

“…Therefore, water absorption and thickness swelling on natural fiber reinforced composites are important factors to be considered in product applications. These results were supported by previous findings on single fibers, in which the relationships between holocellulose content and water absorption affect behaviour (Huzaifah et al 2017). Previous research has indicated that SPF obtained from Kuala Jempol has the highest holocellulose content (54.5%) that contributes to the highest water absorption (161.96 ± 34.04%), followed by Tawau and Indonesia, as shown in Table 4.…”

“…2 below, the SPF Jempol/VE recorded the highest percentage of water absorption and thickness swelling, and this was followed by SPF Tawau/VE and SPF Indonesia/VE. As shown in Table 3, these results were supported by previous research on single fiber tensile tests in which Kuala Jempol fiber had the highest water absorption, 161.96 ± 34.04%, while Tawau and Indonesia were 156.56 ± 19.64% and 80.32 ± 13.3%, respectively (Huzaifah et al 2017). According to Sahari et al (2011), water absorption, thickness swelling, and moisture content are affected by the hydrophilic behavior of the natural fibers and not by the hydrophobic behavior of the polymers.…”

“…These results were supported by previous research on single fiber tensile tests in which the Kuala Jempol fiber had the highest tensile strength, 233.28 ± 71.17 MPa while Indonesia and Tawau were 219.30 ± 79.71 MPa and 211.04 ± 81.19 MPa, respectively. The strength properties of natural fiber were influenced by cellulose content (Reddy and Yang 2005;Ishak et al 2013a;Razali et al 2015;Huzaifah et al 2017). From the results of the cellulose content in Table 6, Kuala Jempol fiber had the highest cellulose content at 44.53%, while Indonesia and Tawau were 44.47% and 43.8%, respectively.…”

“…The SPFs or ijuk fibers were prepared according to previous work (Huzaifah et al 2017). The SPFs were obtained from three different geographical locations: (1) Kampung Kuala Jempol, Negeri Sembilan, (2) Kebun Rimau Sdn Bhd, Balung River, Tawau, Sabah, and (3) Kampung Naga, Tasikmalaya, Indonesia, as shown in Fig.…”

“…Moisture content is one of the important properties that must be considered when using natural fibers as reinforcement in material composites. Natural fiber with high moisture content may reduce the tensile strength, dimension, stability, and porosity formation of the composites (Razali et al 2015;Huzaifah et al 2017). Hence, low moisture content is required for product applications.…”