Oil palm trunk polymer composite: Morphology, water absorption, and thickness swelling behaviours.

In this research, impregnated oil palm trunks (OPT) and polymer composites were prepared from a combination of dried oil palm trunks with phenol formaldehyde (PF) and urea formaldehyde (UF) resin in different resin percentages using an impregnation method. Time of impregnation was a parameter used to control the percentage of resin content in the oil palm trunks. These studies investigated the effect of resin content and types of resin on the physical properties of impregnated OPT. Water absorption tests revealed that OPT polymer composite with 75% PF resin loading had increases of 21% and 26% for OPT polymer composites with 75% UF resin loading. The thickness swelling of OPT polymer composites with 75% PF resin loading exhibited the lowest value of 3.30% as compared with OPT polymer composite with 75% UF resin loading, which exhibited a value of 4.30%. The dimensional stability of the OPT polymer composites with the highest resin loading was slightly lower when compared to rubberwood. Scanning electron micrographs show that PF resin placement in OPT polymer composites was better, and resin penetration retained the original dried OPT structure

Nanobioceramic composites: a study of mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties

The aim of this study was to explore the incorporation of biomass carbon nanofillers (CNF) into advanced ceramic. Biomass from bamboo, bagasse (remains of sugarcane after pressing), and oil palm ash was used as the predecessor for producing carbon black nanofillers. Furnace pyrolysis was carried out at 1000 °C and was followed by ball-mill processing to obtain carbon nanofillers in the range of 50 nm to 100 nm. CNFs were added to alumina in varying weight fractions and the resulting mixture was subjected to vacuum sintering at 1400 °C to produce nanobioceramic composites. The ceramic composites were characterized for mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties. A high-resolution Charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was used to study the fracture impact and the failure mechanism. An increase in the loading percentage of CNFs in the alumna decreased the specific gravity, vickers hardness (HV), and fracture toughness values of the composite materials. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity and the thermal stability of the ceramic composite increased as compared to the pristine alumina

Effect of oil palm and jute fiber treatment on mechanical performance of epoxy hybrid composites

In this work, oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and jute fibers were treated with 2-hydroxy ethyl acrylate (2-HEA) to improve interfacial bonding of oil palm EFB and jute fibers with epoxy matrix. Hybrid composites were fabricated by incorporation of modified oil palm EFB and jute fibers into an epoxy matrix by the hand lay-up technique. Mechanical (flexural and impact) and morphological properties of modified hybrid composites were measured. Results indicated that flexural and impact properties of modified fiber–reinforced hybrid composites improved as compared to untreated hybrid composites due to better fiber/matrix interfacial bonding, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. We confirmed that treated oil palm/jute hybrid composite may be fabricated by advanced techniques such as resin transfer molding, extrusion, and injection molding for industrial applications in the automotive sector

Development and characterization of bamboo fiber reinforced biopolymer films

A paradigm shift from petrochemical based packaging films for food packaging due to its non-renewable and waste disposal challenges has motivated research interest in development and characterization of biopolymer films. In this study, biocomposite films was prepared using bamboo fiber to reinforce modified and unmodified red seaweed SW Kappaphycus alvarezii, resulting in improved mechanical characteristics of 109.1 MPa tensile strength, 55.4 MPa Young's Modulus and 22.3% stretchability prior to breakage at the optimum value of 15% bamboo fibers loadings for unmodified biocomposite. There was general improvement in the fiber/matrix interface of the modified SW based composite films over the biopolymer films from unmodified SW bamboo reinforced films resulting in improved water vapour barrier as the fiber load increases up to Water vapour permeability value of 5.2 (g/s/m2/Pa)., while the contact angle as high as 91° was obtained. FTIR analysis validates the effective interaction of both the bamboo fibers and the seaweed matrix without any significant biochemical alteration of the seaweed within the frameworks of composite films. SEM characterization and contact angle measurement indicate that heterogeneous surface modification of the biopolymer film increases with the fiber loading. Results demonstrated the potential use of the renewable and biodegradable biopolymer composite films as packaging films useful in the food industry

Determination of the combined effect of chemical modification and compression of agatis wood on the dimension stability, termite resistance, and morphological structure

Agatis wood (Agathis lorantifolia Salisb.) was impregnated with a combination of styrene and methyl methacrylate and compressed to a strain of 50% to improve dimensional stability and termite resistance. The changes in cell structure were analyzed to determine the effects of the combination treatment. The results showed that densification of agatis wood with compression, impregnation, and a combination of treatments resulted in an increase in physical properties (density and dimensional stability) by changing the cellular structure and chemical components (i.e., cellulose crystallinity, microfibril angle, and preferred orientation of fibers) as well as degradation of cellulose. The chemical modification and combination treatment (chemical and compression) of wood generally led to a high resistance to dry wood termites

A review on nanocellulosic fibres as new material for sustainable packaging: process an applications

The demand for exploring advanced and eco-friendly sustainable packaging materials with superior physical, mechanical and barrier properties is increasing. The materials that are currently used in packaging for food, beverage, medical and pharmaceutical products, as well as in industrial applications, are non-degradable, and thus, these materials are raising environmental pollution concerns. Numerous studies have been conducted on the utilization of bio-based materials in the pursuit of developing sustainable packaging materials. Although significant improvements have been achieved, a balance among environmental concerns, economic considerations and product packaging performance is still lacking. This is likely due to bio-based materials being used in product packaging applications without a proper design. The present review article intends to summarize the information regarding the potential applications of cellulosic nanofiber for the packaging. The importance of the design process, its principles and the challenges of design process for sustainable packaging are also summarized in this review. Overall it can be concluded that scientists, designers and engineers all are necessarily required to contribute towards research in order to commercially exploit cellulose nanofiber for sustainable packaging

Exploring the effect of cellulose nanowhiskers isolated from oil palm biomass on polylactic acid properties

In this work, polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW) were prepared through solution casting technique. The CNW was first isolated from oil palm empty fruit bunch microcrystalline cellulose (OPEFB-MCC) by using 64% H2SO4 and was designated as CNW-S. The optical microscopy revealed that the large particle of OPEFB-MCC has been broken down by the hydrolysis treatment. The atomic force microscopy confirmed that the CNW-S obtained is in nanoscale dimension and appeared in individual rod-like character. The produced CNW-S was then incorporated with PLA at 1, 3, and 5 parts per hundred (phr) resins for the PLA-CNW-S nanocomposite production. The synthesized nanocomposites were then characterized by a mean of tensile properties and thermal stability. Interestingly to note that incorporating of 3 phr/CNW-S in PLA improved the tensile strength by 61%. Also, CNW-S loading showed a positive impact on the Young’s modulus of PLA. The elongation at break (Eb) of nanocomposites, however, decreased with the addition of CNW-S. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the CNW-S dispersed well in PLA at lower filler loading before it started to agglomerate at higher CNW-S loading (5 phr). The DSC analysis of the nanocomposites obtained showed that Tg,Tcc and Tm values of PLA were improved with CNW-S loading. The TGA analysis however, revealed that incopreated CNW-S in PLA effect the thermal stability (T10,T50 and Tmax) of nanocomposite, where it decrease linearly with CNW-S loading

Properties enhancement using oil palm shell nanoparticles of fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composites

Oil palm shell (OPS) nanoparticles were utilized as filler in fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composites. The OPS nanoparticles were successfully produced from the raw OPS using high-energy ball milling process. Fundamental properties including morphology, crystalline size, and particle size of the OPS nanoparticles were determined. Tri-layer natural fiber reinforcement (kenaf–coconut–kenaf fiber mat) polyester hybrid composites were prepared by hand lay-up techniques. The influences of the OPS nanoparticles loading in the natural fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composites were determined by analyzing physical, mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties of the composites. Results showed that the incorporation of the OPS nanoparticles into the hybrid composites enhanced the composite properties. Further, the natural fibers reinforced polyester hybrid composite had the highest physical, mechanical, morphological, and thermal characteristics at 3 wt.% OPS nanoparticles loading

Microbial-induced CaCO3 filled seaweed-based film for green plasticulture application

This work aimed to develop green biodegradable film using red seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) as a base matrix and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as a filler to enhance the properties of the red seaweed material for plasticulture purpose. CaCO3 which was produced by microbially induced precipitation (MB-CaCO3) using Bacillus sphaericus, was characterized and compared with the commercial CaCO3 (CCaCO3). FESEM image revealed that the size of MB-CaCO3 was smaller and more uniform compared to CCaCO3. FTIR and XRD analyses confirmed the existence of crystalline polymorph of calcite in MB-CaCO3, which contained a higher percentage of calcite than CCaCO3. However, the crystallinity and thermal stability of MB-CaCO3 was lower than CCaCO3. From the results of physical, mechanical and thermal properties of composite films filled with CCaCO3 and MB-CaCO3 fillers, the optimum loading of CCaCO3 and MB-CaCO3 was found at 0.1% and 0.15%, respectively. Composite films filled with MB-CaCO3 promote brighter film, better water barrier, hydrophobicity and biodegradability compared to CCaCO3. Since the effect of MB-CaCO3 on film functional properties was comparable to CCaCO3, it can be used as an alternative to CCaCO3 as inorganic filler for composite films in agriculture applications

The effects of unbleached and bleached nanocellulose on the thermal and flammability of plypropylene-reinforced kenaf core hybrid polymer bionanocomposites

The thermal, thermo-mechanical and flammability properties of kenaf core hybrid polymer nanocomposites reinforced with unbleached and bleached nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) were studied. The studied chemical composition found that unbleached NCC (NCC-UB) had 90% more lignin content compared to bleached NCC (NCC-B). Nanocelluloses were incorporated within polypropylene (PP) as the matrix, together with kenaf core as a main reinforcement and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) as a coupling agent via a melt mixing compounding process. The result showed that the thermal stability of the nanocomposites was generally affected by the presence of lignin in NCC-UB and sulfate group on the surface of NCC-B. The residual lignin in NCC-UB appeared to overcome the poor thermal stability of the composites that was caused by sulfation during the hydrolysis process. The lignin helped to promote the late degradation of the nanocomposites, with the melting temperature occurring at a relatively higher temperature of 219.1 °C for PP/NCC-UB, compared to 185.9 °C for PP/NCC-B. Between the two types of nanocomposites, PP/NCC-B had notably lower thermo-mechanical properties, which can be attributed to the poor bonding and dispersion properties of the NCC-B in the nanocomposites blend. The PP/NCC-UB showed better thermal properties due to the effect of residual lignin, which acted as a compatibilizer between NCC-UB and polymer matrix, thus improved the bonding properties. The residual lignin in PP/NCC-UB helped to promote char formation and slowed down the burning process, thus increasing the flame resistance of the nanocomposites. Overall, the residual lignin on the surface of NCC-UB appeared to aid better stability on the thermal and flammability properties of the nanocomposites