The Role of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) Frond as Filler in Polypropylene Matrix with Relation of Filler Loading and Particle Size Effects

Abstract

Oil palm frond seems to be among the best alternative substitution fillers in thermoplastic composite (WPC) as it is abundantly available and its lignocellulosic properties offer great usability. There is still lack of preliminary studies on the basic effects of oil palm frond’s particle size and its loading in polypropylene matrix. Thus, this paper focuses on studying the mechanical and physical properties of oil palm frond–polypropylene composite in the effects of both particle size and filler loading. Composites with 10–50 % filler loading were fabricated with four different sizes from unscreen particles towards the fines which are 425, 250, and 75 µm. The findings performed a significant difference at 95 % confident level in all tested samples which are flexural MOR, flexural MOE, tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, and water absorption behavior. Largest size showed the best mechanical properties among the others, which is contradicted to previous reports on wood particle thermoplastic composite. These findings are useful as a guide throughout the future researches based on oil palm frond and polypropylene matrix.