Date palm fibers as polymeric matrix reinforcement: DPF/polyester composite properties

Abstract

Due to increased awareness on the part of end users and pressure from legislators, the composite industry has begun investigating the possibility of increasing the proportion of recycled or biodegradable composite materials. Accordingly, efforts are being deployed to find alternative reinforcement and resin systems that are environmentally friendly while providing the same performance as their synthetic counterparts. Natural fibers offer the potential to act as a reinforcing material for low to medium strength applications. In this study a natural fiber extracted from the date palm tree was used as reinforcement for polymeric matrix composites. Polyester composite specimens reinforced with date palm fibers (DPF) were subjected to various types of mechanical and physical tests in order to assess their performance. Results show that these fibers may yield reasonable properties and could be used for low-cost applications that require low to medium strength. Tests indicate, however, that additional work is needed to enhance the compatibility between the fiber and the matrix. POLYM. COMPOS., 26:604 -613, 2005.

Agro-Residues: Surface Treatment and Characterization of Date Palm Tree Fiber as Composite Reinforcement

“…The surface morphology of DPF fibers after chemical treatment is shown in Figure 7(d) which indicates that using soda treatment cleans the fiber surface of wax and fatty substances and causes fibrillation which causes the breaking down of the composite fiber bundle into smaller fibers and therefore the tensile strength of the fibers increases as reported in [14,28]. Moreover, it is anticipated that a smooth surface will facilitate extraction of the fiber from the matrix as reported in [19]. The surface morphology of chemically treated DPF fibers shows rougher surfaces than those of other treatments as shown in Figure 7(d), which are expected to increase the amount of energy required for extracting the fibers and pulling them out from the matrix in the composites.…”

“…The possibility of using DPF reinforcement in composite manufacturing will help in opening new markets in Arab countries like UAE and Egypt for what is normally considered waste in low value products. The use of DPF as reinforcement in polymeric materials has been reported in few studies [16][17][18][19]. Using different physical treatment methods such as corona discharge and plasma and chemical surface treatment methods such as alkali, acetylation, and bleaching has direct effect on the changes in the surface structure of the natural fiber.…”

Advances in industrial prospective of cellulosic macromolecules enriched banana biofibre resources: A review

“…Application of plant fibres as one of the component in polymeric materials such as reinforcement in composites have attracted greater attention due to their added advantages. Natural fibres and its composites is environment friendly as these are derived from renewable sources, and at the end of life cycle either they can be composed or calorific value can be recovered [7,8]. Compared to the natural cellulosic fibres, glass fibres have been prominently used in composites industry, as no viable technological options were available.…”

Removal of Heavy Metals from Wastewater using Date Palm as a Biosorbent: A Comparative Review

“…The total number of DP trees in the world is approximately 120 million, cultivated on an area of 800000 ha distributed in 30 countries (Al-Kaabi et al 2005;El-Juhany 2010). The analysis of the regional distribution (Table 3) indicated that approximately 60 million DP trees are found in Asia (e.g.…”