Development of Nipah Palm Fibre Extraction Process

Abstract

Nypa fruticans or locally known as nipah palm is extracted from its fronds to determine its potential as reinforcement in polymer composites. The objective of this paper is to investigate the method to extract nipah palm fiber from its fronds and to determine its diameter and density. Two extraction methods were tested; they are the dry and wet method. The dry method is where the fronds are dried under hot sun and the wet method is where the fronds were soaked in water prior to extraction. The extraction process found that nipah palm has two types of potential fiber suitable for reinforcement, coarse (fiber A) and fine fiber (fiber B). Both extraction methods are able to produce these two fibers. Both methods are discussed extensively in this paper. The diameter of fiber A and B were 0.53±0.06 mm and 0.039±0.08 mm respectively. Distribution of the fibers was measured using optical microscope. The densities of the fibers were measured using pycnometer method and the densities were 1.00 g/cm3 and 0.89 g/cm3 for fiber A and B.