Oil Palm Mesocarp Fiber as New Lignocellulosic Material for Fabrication of Polymer/Fiber Biocomposites

Abstract

New biocomposites consisting of poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) and various content (0-70 wt%) of oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) or oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFBF) were fabricated by melt blending and subsequently hotpress moulding. The tensile, flexural, and impact properties of those biocomposites were evaluated and compared. Enhancement of flexural modulus of 200 or 150% was observed with PBS biocomposite loaded with 70 wt% of OPMF or OPEFBF. PBS/OPMF biocomposites exhibited higher values of tensile, flexural and impact strengths, and tensile and flexural moduli than those of PBS/OPEFBF biocomposites. These results indicated that OPMF feature better reinforcing agent for PBS as compared to that of OPEFBF.

Influence of Fiber Content on Properties of Oil Palm Mesocarp Fiber/Poly(butylene succinate) Biocomposites

“…According to recent publications, a wide range of natural fibers are being utilized as filler or reinforcement in various types of thermoplastic matrices to fabricate biocomposites; these include oil palm (Shinoj et al 2010(Shinoj et al , 2011aTeh et al 2013;Eng et al 2014;Rayung et al 2014;Then et al 2013Then et al , 2014aThen et al , 2015a, kenaf (Abdul , hemp (Terzopoulou et al 2014), jute (Nam et al 2012), coir (Nam et al 2011), cotton stalk (Tan et al 2011), sisal (Joseph et al 2003), and banana (Pothan et al 2003).…”

“…It has been traditionally used as a low value boiler fuel to produce steam in generating electricity for self-supply in oil palm mills. In the authors' previous reports (Teh et al 2013;Eng et al 2014;Then et al 2013Then et al , 2014aThen et al , 2015a, OPMF was successfully compounded with biodegradable thermoplastics to produce eco-friendly biocomposites. This undoubtedly will be an added value of OPMF in the future.…”

Superheated Steam Treatment of Oil Palm Mesocarp Fiber Improved the Properties of Fiber-Polypropylene Biocomposite

“…Fiber agglomeration at high fiber loading results from strong fiber-fiber interaction (Kaewkuk et al 2013;Then et al 2013). Based on these results, the effect of fiber loading on the mechanical properties of biocomposites was similar for both untreated and SHStreated biocomposites.…”

“…OPMF is used as biomass fuel and is inefficiently burnt for energy generation by steam boiling (Ali et al 2015;Zakaria et al 2015). Oil palm mesocarp fiber, found in nature, has similar characteristics to EFB in terms of chemical composition; OPMF has potential for other uses, such as biosugar production (Mahmud et al 2013;Zakaria et al 2015) and as a reinforcing material in biocomposites (Sreekala and Thomas 2003;Then et al 2013).…”

Enhancement of the Mechanical Properties and Dimensional Stability of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch-Kenaf Core and Oil Palm Mesocarp-Kenaf Core Hybrid Fiber-Reinforced Poly(lactic acid) Biocomposites by Borax Decahydrate Modification of Fibers

“…Natural fibers have attained a key position in the area of polymer composite technology, being used in a wide variety of applications, ranging from relatively low strength (e.g., packaging materials) (Leão et al 2008;Then et al 2013) to relatively high strength (e.g., automobiles) (Deka et al 2013;Jawaid et al 2015). This is largely attributed to their attractive properties, such as abundance, eco-friendliness, environmentally-benign, renewability, low density profile, etc.…”