Reusability of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) Waste with Tapioca Starch for Polymer-Based Agriculture Application: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The existence of oil palm wastes has caused a significant disposal challenge, and it contains high fibre that is hard to disintegrate. Empty fruit bunches (EFB) contributes approximately 24 weights (wt.) % of solid waste in oil palm industries and has a high cellulose content. This study aims to find the best combination ratio of EFB fine fibre (EFBF) and tapioca starch for polymer production (EFBT) and its characterisation. The oil palm EFB waste was collected from Southern Malay Palm Oil Mill at Simpang Renggam, Johor, and shredded using an industrial fibre grinder. The EFBF and tapioca starch (TS) was combined using water and microwave heating according to the ratio generated using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), and the end homogenous pellet obtained was then analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) while the raw EFB fine fibre was analysed using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS). SEM analysis shows that the increasing homogenous interaction with less void was represented by respective EFBF to TS ratios 1:9, 1:5, 5:9, 5:5, 9:5, 5:1 and 9:1. The highest water contact angle recorded was 88.53° using ratio 1:9 followed by 40.35° using ratio 1:5, and no water contact angle obtained for 9:5, 5:5, 5:1, 5:9 and 9:1 ratios. The fastest rate of disintegration was recorded by 5:1 with 2712.000 g/day, while the slowest rate of disintegration was recorded by 9:1 with 1.206 g/day. The ANOVA analysis for water contact angle was significant as the p-values were <0.05, while for disintegration rate was not significant as the p-value was >0.05. However, although both models are unable to project optimised values for further testing, this study did provide a baseline for range selection for future study using RSM for optimisation of EFBF and TS.