Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber Research Articles

Tensile Strength and Morphological Behavior of Treated Oil Pam Empty Fruit Bunch Particle Reinforced Polymeric Composite

Numerous literatures have suggested that the use of natural fiber as filler can improve the mechanical properties of a polymer composite. Oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers (OPEFB) are no exception and have shown to exhibit good mechanical properties, with the potential to produce environmentally friendlier composites. In this study, the tensile strengths and morphologies of micro OPEFB filled composites with varying loadings (0.3125 wt% to 10 wt%) were investigated. It was found that increasing content of OPEFB reduces the translucency of the composite almost linearly. It was also revealed that the addition of 0.3125 wt% to 2.5 wt% has a reinforcing effect, observing improvement up to 17.4% compared to its neat condition. Such findings would facilitate the development of an effective OPEFB reinforced polymeric nanocomposite.

The effect of woven oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) filler fiber on the mechanical properties of natural and synthetic rubber

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) are biomass from palm oil (CPO) processing which can be produced into long lignocellulose and made of yarn as raw material for woven textiles for sandwich biocomposite applications. The purpose of this study was to obtain a biocomposite sandwich variation of natural rubber, butyl, and silicone reinforced with OPEFB woven fibers at optimum filler concentration by studying mechanical properties. The biocomposite of rubber sandwiches with OPEFB fiber reinforced with concentrations of 14, 20, and 28 sheets with a size of 10 x 10 x 1 cm. The methodology used was layered printing with constant pressure and heat using a hot press. The best fiber concentration based on mechanical properties was a composite with a fiber concentration of 28 sheets on 70 shore A hardness natural rubber. This was because the fibers in the composite functioned as load bearers, where this containment was carried out by the distribution of stress. The more fiber concentration, the more effective and uniform distribution of stresses will be, so that an increase in the mechanical properties of the composite occurs. The mechanical properties of rubber have been shown to increase with the addition of fiber as a reinforcing material, the ratio of the impact strength of rubber (control) and fiber-reinforced rubber was lower than that of fiber-reinforced rubber. The natural rubber had an impact strength of 48 kJ/m2, while natural rubber with fiber reinforcement had a higher impact strength value of 321.40 kJ/m2.

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) Fiber-Reinforced Acrylic Thermoplastic Composites: Effect of Salt Fog Aging on Tensile, Spectrophotometric, and Thermogravimetric Properties

The prioritization of agroindustry fiber wastes as raw materials in development of composites has become a challenge to obtain higher value-added products with targeted applications. In this study, natural fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites were elaborated using two fiber sizes (605 μm and 633 μm) of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and acrylic thermoplastic resin. In doing so, resin and fibers were mixed at room temperature by maintaining filler content of 42 wt. % for all formulations. In addition, thermomechanical compression moulding was used as composite manufacturing process at four processing temperatures (80, 100, 120, and 140°C). All formulations were subsequently exposed to salt fog spray aging for 330 hours. The effects of accelerated aging process on mechanical, spectrophotometric, and thermogravimetric characteristics were studied. On the whole, results have shown feasibility to use a facile method to elaborate composites based on waterborne acrylic matrix and OPEFB fibers. After salt spray testing, it was observed detectable levels of Aspergillus spp. of fungi in all samples, as a result of phylogenetic organization of microbial activity. Tensile behavior of composites was significantly influenced by processing temperature and fiber size. In broad terms, their overall mechanical properties were improved by the increase of temperature. Additionally, infrared spectroscopy results showed important bands mainly associated to biodegradation of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. On the other hand, two degradation stages were mainly identified in thermogravimetric evaluation. Noteworthy, aging had no significant effect on the thermal properties of composites.

The effect of repeated alkali pretreatments on the morphological characteristics of cellulose from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber-reinforced epoxy adhesive composite

In this study, the effect of low-concentration (4 wt%) alkali and bleaching pre-treatments on the fibrillation of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibers were evaluated. The OPEFB fibers were subjected to repeated weak alkali treatment and bleached by hydrogen peroxide in alkaline solution. Fibrillation was accomplished via mechanical process by a household blender. The obtained cellulose morphology was used to find paper-like sheets that were coated with epoxy resin to produce composites by sheet lamination. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that hemicellulose and lignin were partially removed and fiber dispersion strongly depended on the number of alkali treatment cycles. Scanning electron microscopy showed that fibers that underwent 12 alkali treatment cycles presented the most effective fibrillation. In addition, the blender fibrillation of cellulose fibers in a mild (6 wt%) alkali solution required less energy than blending in a neutral aqueous medium and improved fibrillation into nanofibrils. The obtained average diameters of the microfibrils and nanofibrils were approximately 7 μm and 89 nm, respectively. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of the composites were approximately 3.6 and 20 times higher, respectively, than those of neat epoxy resin. The proposed chemo-mechanical method could facilitate the use of micro-nanofibrils extracted from OPEFB for fiber-based materials and polymeric composites.

Design and manufacturing processes of half face motorcycle palm fiber reinforced composite polymer

The Results of palm oil mill processing are palm oil and its derivatives which have high selling value. While the waste is oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), its utilization is still small. This waste is considered to have good potential to be utilized and developed into composite materials. This study aims to design and manufacture a half-face motorcycle helmet from a polymer composite reinforced OPEFB fiber. The method of making motorcycle helmet by hand lay-up, where polymer composite is applied to a motorcycle helmet mold made of wood with 2 layers on the shell of the helmet. The ratio of OPEFB fiber and polyester resin is based on a mass fraction of 10:90. Obtained a half-face motorcycle helmet with a mass of 1.5 kg and the size of the helmet is for an adult head.

Utilization of oil palm empty fruit bunch cellulose fillers for biodegradable properties of carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber latex films

The increase in latex gloves production in Malaysia has caused a landfill build-up due to its low biodegradable properties upon disposal. Meanwhile, oil palm biomass waste also shows a similar trend due to the global demand for palm oil. Therefore, the utilization of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) cellulose fiber-filled carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR) latex is investigated. The OPEFB cellulose fillers are subjected to alkali and bleaching treatment to remove the wax, lignin, and hemicellulose. The treatment effectively removed most of the non-cellulosic components in OPEFB fibers. The XNBR latex was then compounded with different loading of OPEFB cellulose fillers (2phr, 4phr, 6phr, 8phr). The results obtained show as the OPEFB cellulose filler loading increases, the mechanical properties of latex films decrease due to the agglomeration of fillers that act as stress concentrations. After four weeks of soil burial, the biodegradable properties of XNBR latex films are enhanced with increasing filler loading as OPEFB fillers act as a source of nutrients for the biodegradation process by microorganisms. The balance in the mechanical and biodegradable properties is achieved at 4phr of OPEFB cellulose filler loading.

Crash behaviour of unidirectional oil palm empty fruit bunch fibre-reinforced polypropylene composite car bumper fascias using finite element analysis

The number of road accidents has increased annually over the last 20 years, and this is a matter of considerable concern. Automobile safety systems must therefore be carefully evaluated to ensure they are able to serve their purpose in protecting passengers. One of these safety systems is the car bumper system. The bumper system plays a vital role, especially in protection against frontal impact. In this study, using finite element analysis employing LS-DYNA software, we analyse the crash behaviour of bumper fascias made of unidirectional oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites. The incorporation of OPEFB fibres into the bumper part stems from the growth of environmental concerns and is in line with national sustainable development goals. In this analysis, the composite bumper was subjected to a frontal low impact speed of 4 km h−1 in accordance with Part 581 of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard regulations enforced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for low-velocity impacts. Comparative study was made with existing bumper materials, namely steel, aluminium alloy and PP. The effect of fibre orientation and fibre content of the composite on the crash performance of the bumper was also investigated. The fibre orientation was varied between vertical, 45° and horizontal directions while fibre content varied between 25%, 35%, 45% and 55%. Our results show that the composite bumper fascia has comparable specific energy absorption to existing bumper materials. An increase in the fibre content of the composite results in an increase in the energy absorption ability, while fibre orientation made no significant difference to the impact performance.

Aminosilanes grafted nanocrystalline cellulose from oil palm empty fruit bunch aerogel for carbon dioxide capture

The modification of solid adsorbents with aminating agents amid severe climate change has been intensively studied. Previous organic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sorbent like nanoporous activated carbon develops micropores but can be easily blocked by organic amine molecules during the impregnation process. Therefore, in this study, aminosilanes with different chain lengths and nitrogen (N) content were used in nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) modification prior to solid adsorbent aerogel fabrication to investigate their effect on pore formation, surface area, thermal stability, and capacity of CO 2 capture. The NCC derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFB) has been modified with 3-(aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS), 3-(2-aminoethylamino) propyl-dimethoxymethylsilane (AEAPDMS), and N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) diethylenetriamine (DET3) by grafting method, respectively. Based on the results, aerogel modified with the shortest chain length aminosilane, APTMS-NCC aerogel has a higher CO 2 sorption (0.20 mmol/g adsorbent) than the unmodified NCC aerogel (0.10 mmol/g adsorbent). Meanwhile, the highest surface area properties and thermal stability are demonstrated by NCC grafted by the intermediate chain length aminosilane, AEAPDMS-NCC aerogel. Thus, our work concluded that NCC's modification with low and intermediate chain length and N content aminosilanes prior to aerogel fabrication improved the pore formation, surface area, and CO 2 sorption of the aerogel. The aerogels from aminosilanes functionalized NCC could be developed as a new value-added product in the palm oil industry.

Fabrication and Characterization of Woven and Non-woven Textiles Derived from Natural Resources

The present work investigated the properties of long fibers derived from oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) for the potential woven and non-woven textiles production. Several characterizations such as XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX, DSC, and mechanical testing were carried out to understand the properties comprehensively. This study found that the OPEFB has the potential for the production of woven and non-woven textiles. The properties of OPEFB fibers were comparable with synthetics fibers that are commonly used in the textile industry. XRD analysis confirmed the structural properties, while the FTIR showed the biomolecules' bonding characteristics. In general, the physical and mechanical properties of the OPEFB fibers depend on surface modification and chemical treatments.

Oil-palm empty fruit bunch fiber reinforcement in concrete-foam application for floating platform

This paper focuses on fiber reinforcement of concrete-foam material (CFM) for floating platform. Oil-palm empty fruit bunch fiber (EFB-F) was selected to mix with CFM. Initially, three composition ratios of CFM were produced and tested to optimize the curing time. Then, the EFB-F was mixed with the optimized CFM. Several ratios of EFB-F and optimized CFM were used to study the effect of fiber reinforcement. Mechanical properties namely, compressive strength and tensile strength from flexural test were investigated. Several designs and compositions of the floating platform were studied to optimize strength and floatability (as composite material density). The research and testing results, it can be concluded that the cement-foam-EFB-F composite material has a higher density, resulting in higher compressive strength and tensile strength. Therefore, Oil-palm empty fruit bunch fiber, a waste material from manufacturing processes, can be utilized as an ingredient to improve the mechanical properties of foam cement for floating platforms.

Application of OPEFB Fibre Based Electrode in Microbial Fuel Cell System for Electricity Generation and Chlorophenol Degradation

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) has emerged as one of the potential technologies for sustainable bioelectrical energy recovery and reduction of recalcitrant wastes. The MFC performance is greatly influenced by the anode materials which serve as the support for exoelectrogenic bacteria attachment. In this study, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is proposed as an alternative anode material prepared via a direct carbonization process using tube furnace owing to its good conductivity property. The carbonization process was conducted under nitrogen gas flow at 900°C with a constant heating rate of 5°C/min. The anode was prepared by mixing the carbonized OPEFB with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) binder. When used in MFC, the OPEFB-anode generated a maximum current density of 97.30 mA/m 2, which is comparatively higher than that of the conventional carbon cloth anode (76.24 mA/m 2). Our MFC system had also resulted considerable chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 2-chlorophenol reductions of 77% and 75%, respectively. This study could support future research on freely-available OPEFB materials for high performance MFC anode.

Oil palm empty fruit bunch valorization for activated and non-activated carbon nanoparticles and its heavy-metal-removal efficiency.

In this study, we examined activated and non-activated carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibers for their nanomaterial characteristics and their potential effectiveness in heavy metal removal. To investigate these properties, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry were employed. This study shows that both the activated and the non-activated CNPs were in the form of well-dispersed and aggregated particles. As analyzed using SEM, the external surfaces of the non-activated CNPs were determined to be irregular, while those of the activated CNPs had a more circular shape without aggregation. Carbon was the most dominant element observed in these CNPs, and the occurrence of its activation process altered the chemical functional groups of the non-activated CNPs by shifting their wavenumbers and intensities. Additionally, the activation process increased the crystallinity domain in the activated CNPs. OPEFB fibers could be valorized to obtain both activated and non-activated CNPs that had the potential efficiency to remove heavy metals, including copper (Cu), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) at certain times. Based on the analysis of the Langmuir and Freundlich models, the activated and non-activated CNPs were found to have shown favorable adsorption to Cu, Pb, and Fe, with a percentage of heavy metal removal of over 84%. The adsorption of heavy metals was carried out via a chemical process.

Flammability, Tensile, and Morphological Properties of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Fiber/Pet Yarn-Reinforced Epoxy Fire Retardant Hybrid Polymer Composites.

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) fiber is a natural fiber that possesses many advantages, such as biodegradability, eco-friendly, and renewable nature. The effect of the OPEFB fiber loading reinforced fire retardant epoxy composites on flammability and tensile properties of the polymer biocomposites were investigated. The tests were carried out with four parameters, which were specimen A (constant), specimen B (20% of fiber), specimen C (35% of fiber), and specimen D (50% of fiber). The PET yarn and magnesium hydroxide were used as the reinforcement material and fire retardant agent, respectively. The results were obtained from several tests, which were the horizontal burning test, tensile test, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The result for the burning test showed that specimen B exhibited better flammability properties, which had the lowest average burning rate (11.47 mm/min). From the tensile strength, specimen A revealed the highest value of 10.79 N/mm2. For the SEM morphological test, increasing defects on the surface ruptured were observed that resulted in decreased tensile properties of the composites. It can be summarized that the flammability and tensile properties of OPEFB fiber reinforced fire retardant epoxy composites were reduced when the fiber volume contents were increased at the optimal loading of 20%, with the values of 11.47 mm/min and 4.29 KPa, respectively.

Recovery of lignin and phenolics via one-pot pretreatment of oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber and palm oil mill effluent

This is a pioneer research carried out to investigate the novel use of palm oil mill effluent (POME) as an extraction solvent of lignin and phenolics from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFBF). In the present study, lignin and phenolics were removed from OPEFBF using different solvents, namely POME, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), aqueous ammonia (NH3), POME containing 5% w/w NaOH (NaOH-POME), and POME containing 5% w/w NH3 (NH3-POME) at different temperatures and times. Results obtained suggest that NaOH-POME was the best solvent to produce the highest yield of lignin (24.2±0.36%) and phenolics (2.4±0.1 g L−1). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) of solvent was increased drastically after treatment but reduced substantially after lignin precipitation. The delignified liquor was a rich source of aromatic aldehydes and acids such as hydroxybenzoic acid, syringaldehyde, syringic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and trace amounts of hydroxybenzaldehyde and vanillic acid. Utilization of POME as a solvent to extract lignin and phenolics from OPEFBF is recommended as a win-win approach to simultaneously prepare OPEFBF and POME as a feedstock for downstream processes.

Study of oil sorption behaviour of esterified oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre and its kinetics and isotherm studies

Oil spills concern the public as they are incredibly harmful to the environment and the economy. A collection of business frameworks has been created to control oil spills, such as the utilization of agricultural wastes as sorbents. This paper demonstrates the use of raw and modified fibre from empty bunches of palm fruit, a low-cost adsorbent material for the oil spill in the marine environment. To improve fibre’s sorption capacity, the fibre was modified by esterification using oleic acid. The modified fibre was tested to adsorb crude oil in a batch system (Tapis and Arabian). The extent of modification was given according to weight percent gain (WPG), which was calculated on the basis of difference in weight before and after the treatment. To increase the esterification productivity, an optimization study was conducted at various concentrations of oleic acid and temperature, and achieved higher WPG (with 4.32%) and subsequently higher oil sorption capacity of 5.8 and 5.96 g/g for Tapis and Arabian crude oil, respectively. Besides, this study also focused on correspondence of surface functional groups of the adsorbent using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum, surface morphology by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and measure the contact angle using Interfacial Tension. Two well-known adsorption kinetic and isotherm models of sorbents were utilized to explain the mechanism of adsorption of oil onto the modified OPEFB fibre. The predicted result exemplified that, Pseudo-second-order model from the kinetic and Langmuir model from isotherm study were well represented to remove crude oil onto the treated OPEFB fibre regarding the highest correlation coefficient (R2) and closely of maximum crude oil adsorption in theoretical (q0) and experimental (qe) data.

Effect of surface treatment on mechanical, physical and morphological properties of oil palm/bagasse fiber reinforced phenolic hybrid composites for wall thermal insulation application

The effect of 2%v/v silane and 4%v/v hydrogen peroxide treatment on mechanical, physical and morphological characterization of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) fiber reinforced bio-phenolic hybrid composites has been evaluated in this work. The treated OPEFB and SCB fibers has been prepared with different ratio while maintaining 50%wt fiber loading, and then incorporated with the bio-phenolic resin by hand layup technique to produce pure and hybrid composites. Universal testing machine INSTRON has been used for tensile, flexural, and compressive strength analysis. Water absorption and thickness swelling are determined after 24 h. Fracture behaviour, void and fiber pull out of the specimen was observed by using scanning electron microscope in morphological analysis. The hybridization of silane treated 7OPEFB:3SCB fiber indicates better highest performance on tensile strength and modulus with 11.67 MPa and 1348.43 MPa. The silane treated 5OPEFB:5SCB hybrid composites show highest flexural and compressive strength, 16.82 MPa and 6.53 MPa, respectively. Obtained result showed silane treated 3OPEFB:7SCB hybrid composites displays lowest water absorption and thickness swelling after 24 h analysis and show less void content. This study indicated that 2%v/v silane coupling agent gives better enhancement of mechanical properties compared to 4%v/v hydrogen peroxide treatment. Silane treated 5OPEFB:5SCB fiber reinforced bio-phenolic hybrid composites fulfil requirement of the mechanical and physical properties needed for insulation board as per standard. It can be concluded from this study that silane treatment improve the performance of agriculture residue and the hybridization of bio-composites have potential to develop new class of eco-friendly thermal insulation and sustainable wall building materials.

Development and Characterization of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibre Reinforced Polylactic Acid Filaments for Fused Deposition Modeling

In recent years, Natural Fibre-Reinforced Composites (NFRC) making its impact in all applications, and they have reached their way into the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM) as well. This increases the demand for natural fibre based filaments in the field of AM. Hence, this research aims to develop filaments made of Polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced with Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibre (OPEFBF) and to investigate its physical, thermal and mechanical properties. PLA with 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt.% of OPEFBF were melt blended, hot-pressed, and successfully extruded as filaments. Later, its physical, thermal, water absorption, biodegradation, and mechanical properties are investigated. OPEFBF reinforced filaments show lesser values of densities, increased Tensile Modulus (TM), better bio and thermal degradation compared to the pure PLA. However, its rate of water absorption is high with reduced Tensile Strength (TS) than the pure PLA. Later these filaments reinforced with different OPEFBF contents are 3D printed using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology. Filaments with lesser fibre content were easy to print. Filaments with 10 wt.% OPEFBF was continuously printed whereas, filaments with higher fibre content clogged in the nozzle. Overall, PLA reinforced with OPEFBF has been developed and successfully applied to the field of additive manufacturing by FDM.

Acoustic Properties of Micro-Perforated Panels Made from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber Reinforced Polylactic Acid

This paper presents the development and performance of micro-perforated panels (MPP) from natural fiber reinforced composites. The MPP is made of Polylactic Acid (PLA) reinforced with Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber (OPEFBF). The investigation was made by varying the fiber density, air gap, and perforation ratio to observe the effect on the Sound Absorption Coefficient (SAC) through the experiment in an impedance tube. It is found that the peak level of SAC is not affected, but the peak frequency shifts to lower frequency when the fiber density is increased. This phenomenon might be due to the presence of porosity in the inner wall of the holes. Increasing or decreasing the air gap and perforation ratio shifts the peaks of acoustic absorption either way.

Comparison of Natural Fiber Types as Reinforcement Material on Composite Mechanical Properties via Carbon Nanotubes Addition

Composites with natural fiber reinforcement have been widely used in various field. Natural fibers have the advantages of easy recycling, environmentally-friendly characters, renewable, non-toxic, inexpensive, high toughness, good insulation against heat and noise, and good thermal properties. The aim of this paper is compare natural fibers used as reinforcing material on composite with an epoxy matrix and the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT). The natural fibers used are oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), bagasse, and hemp fiber. Alkalization treatment with NaOH was carried out on natural fibers to remove impurities on the fiber surface and activate hydroxyl groups. CNTs need to be functionalized to achieve the desired compatibility. Functionalization is carried out by the mild acid oxidation method using nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Silane coupling agent treatment is carried out on natural fibers and CNTs to improve compatibility with the matrix. The result of the bending strength test of OPEFB, bagasse, and hemp fiber was 509.94 MPa, 36.22 MPa, and 18.12, respectively, in addition to CNT 0.5% mass. The bending strength of OPEFB fiberismore significant than bagasse and hemp fiber, so it has the opportunity to be developed in the automotive industry.

Modification of Recycled HDPE Composite with OPEFB Microfibers Through the Melt Blend Extruder Process

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), have not many been used as a have economic value material. OPEFB fiber content can be using as a filler to composites fabrication. The fiber contained in the OPEFB can be increase composites quality because have high thermal and mechanical properties. SEM analysis shows that OPEFB waste with a size of 63 and 90 ?m is suitable to be use as a filler because of the compatibility of the fiber and matrix matrix. As with the results of the DSC analysis, the melting point of HDPE-TKKS composite with 63 ?m fiber size reaches 133.58 0 C while the melting point of HDPE-TKKS composite with 90 ?m fiber size reaches 134.41 0 C. The FTIR test results also show that the indications of the two samples have the same chemical composition, namely lignicellulose. The best tensile strength is obtained which is equal to 21.11 MPa and the force required to break the composite is 391.56 N, these results were obtained from composites with a ratio of 60: 40 (matrix : filler) and 90 µm fiber size. Key words : Plastic, HDPE, fiber, OPEFB, composit e