Properties of montmorillonite filled epoxy /acrylated epoxidized palm oil hybrid kenaf/glass fiber composites

In recent years, due to growing environmental and ecological concerns, many studies have focused on the use of renewable resources as a starting material or blending component in the polymer resin formation. To tap to the mass production of palm oil in Malaysia, this study focuses on developing a novel hybrid glass/kenaf fiber reinforced epoxy composites from acrylated epoxidized palm oil (AEPO) filled organo modified montmorrillonite nanoclay (OMMT) and cured with bio-based hardener. The effects of AEPO and OMMT loading on mechanical and thermal properties, morphology as well as water absorption properties of epoxy/AEPO nanocomposites were investigated. The amounts of AEPO in epoxy resin were varied at 10, 20 and 30 wt% and the OMMT loadings were varied at 1, 1.5 and 2 phr. The results revealed that the impact strength and ductility properties of epoxy/AEPO resin improved with AEPO loading. The highest improvement of impact strength was indicated by epoxy/AEPO resin with 30 wt% AEPO loading, representing 57.8% higher than the neat epoxy resin. However, the strength and modulus of epoxy/AEPO resins were reduced with increasing of AEPO content. The addition of OMMT improved the modulus and thermal stability of nanocomposites with the optimum balanced properties at 10 wt% AEPO and 1.5 phr OMMT nanoclay loading. At this loading, tensile modulus of epoxy resin with 10 wt% AEPO loading improved 45.6 % higher than the neat epoxy/AEPO resin. The thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis results also revealed that the thermal stability and glass transition temperature of epoxy/AEPO nanocomposites improved with the addition of OMMT up to 1.5 phr OMMT loading. The hybrid glass/kenaf fiber composites were fabricated using hand lay-up technique. The moisture absorption behaviour and its effects on the flexural properties of hybrid glass/kenaf fiber composites were investigated. The water absorption studies showed that the hybridization between glass and kenaf fibers significantly affected the water absorption and flexural strength of the composites. The alternated layering sequence of GKKG (where, G and K stands for glass and kenaf fiber, respectively) gave the best flexural properties of the resulted hybrid kenaf/glass fiber reinforced epoxy/AEPO filled OMMT composites. The overall results showed that montmorrilonite filled epoxy/AEPO hybrid kenaf/glass fiber composites are potential materials which could be utilized for applications in automotive panels, wall or floor panels, furniture, and housing construction materials

Interactions and performance analysis of epoxidized palm oil/unsaturated polyester resin: Mechanical, thermal, and thermo-mechanical properties

In this work, an alternative of bio-thermoset resin for composite applications was synthesized using unsaturated polyester resin (UPE) and epoxidized palm oil (EPO). The main purpose of this study is to reduce the dependency on petroleum and improve the toughness properties of UPE by partially introduced renewable source triglyceride, EPO in the UPE chain. The UPE resin blends with 10, 20, and 30 wt% EPO oil were synthesized by using benzoyl peroxide as an initiator. The samples were cured in an oven at 100°C and 160°C for 4 h. The interaction of the blend was studied by the FTIR test supported by the SEM test. The effects of EPO loadings in UPE on the mechanical, thermal, and thermo-mechanical properties were also being studied. The addition of EPO physically interacted in the system and acted as a lubricant. The higher the addition of EPO in UPE has increased the elongation at break and impact strength of the UPE resin, which indicated an increase in mobility and toughness of the UPE chain. The developed UPE/EPO blends resin also exhibited higher thermal stability than the neat UPE, thereby showing potential to be used in a wide range of composite applications

Mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester/epoxidized palm oil/Kenaf fibre composite at different styrene content

Polyester resin (UPE) is petroleum-based polymer that most generally utilized as matrix system in fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) products due to its high properties per price ratio. Currently, researchers are interested in partial blends of UPE resin with vegetable oil reinforced with natural fibre to produce renewable and sustainable composite products. However, the mechanical properties of this new blending bio-composite are highly related to the curing and crosslinking process of the UPE resin; which contributed by the styrene concentration as the crosslinking agent. Thus, this research aims to investigate the effect of styrene contents on the mechanical and thermal properties of unsaturated polyester (UPE)/epoxidized palm oil (EPO)/kenaf composites. The kenaf fibres were initially treated with an alkaline solution, and the composites were prepared by the direct mixing method and fabricated by hand lay-up technique. In this research, the amount of EPO and styrene varied at 0, 10, 20, 30 wt% and 25, 35, and 45 %, respectively. The characterization of found that increasing styrene content in UPE/EPO/kenaf composites improved the crosslinking and chemical interactions in the composites. In addition, increasing styrene content also improved the tensile modulus, tensile strength, Izod impact strength and elongation at break of the UPE/EPO/kenaf composites

Water absorption behaviour of epoxy/acrylated epoxidized palm oil (AEPO) reinforced hybrid kenaf/glass fiber montmorillonite (HMT) composites

The use of fiber-reinforced vegetable oil - polymer composites has increased in various technical fields. However, the long-term operating performance of these materials is still not well understood, limiting the development of these composites. In this study, the water absorption performance of hybrid composites, which consist of kenaf fiber and glass fiber as reinforcement, epoxy resin and acrylated epoxidized palm oil (AEPO) as a matrix, and montmorillonite (MMT) nano clays as a filler was evaluated with the function of different fibers layering order. The hand lay-up method is used to produce the composites with the variable number of kenaf fibers and glass fibers layer sequences. The water absorption kinetics of epoxy/AEPO reinforced hybrid kenaf/glass fiber-filled MMT composites are described in this paper. It has been observed that the water absorption rate of the composites depends on the fiber layering sequences. The alternative sequence of Glass-Kenaf-Kenaf-Glass and Kenaf-Glass-Kenaf-Glass composites layers exhibited the lowest moisture absorption rates of 7.61% and 7.63%, respectively

Fourier-Transform Infra Red (FTIR) analysis of uv curing biobased-polyurethane from epoxidized palm oil using acrylation and thiols addition

This study is conducted to synthesis bio-polyurethane from epoxidized palm oil (EPO). Palm oil-based polyurethane was synthesized by the acrylation process followed by thiols addition. The resulting oligomers were then reacted with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and dibutylin dilaurate (DBTDL) to form Thiolated Acrylated Epoxidized Palm Oil Urethane (t-AEPOU). t-AEPOU was then reacted under UV photoirradiation for further reaction and to pre-determine its curing activities. The polymerization of AEPO and t-AEPOU were confirms by using Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier-Transform Infra Red (ATR-FTIR). This study affords new approach in synthesis of Palm Oil bio-based Polyurethane Coating

Synthesis and characterization of hydrophobic properties of silicon dioxide in palm oil based bio-coating

This research aims to synthesize a biobased polyurethane coating from epoxidized palm oil (EPO) and determine the effect of different silicon dioxide (SiO2) loadings on the hydrophobicity performance of the coating. In this work, EPO was firstly undergoing an acrylation reaction and followed by the addition of isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) to form Polyurethane (PU). Improvement was made by adding SiO2 at different loadings into the palm oil-based PU to provide hydrophobic properties to the coating materials. The sample was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), water sliding angle test, and water absorption test. Based on the FTIR results, PU was successfully synthesized from EPO with SiO2 addition. The results also proved that the addition of SiO2 successfully improved the hydrophobicity of the coating. The higher the SiO2 content in palm oil PU, the shorter the time taken for the water to slide down the 25° angle coated glass and lower the water absorption percentage of the coating material. Based on the analysis, 3 phr SiO2 content showed the highest hydrophobicity performance, which could be applied in further research

Tailoring graphene reinforced thermoset and biothermoset composites

The surge of knowledge among researchers pertaining to the excellent properties of graphene has led to the utilisation of graphene as a reinforced filler in polymer composites. Different methods of graphene preparation, either bottom-up or top-down methods, are important requirements of starting materials in producing reinforced properties in the composites. The starting graphene material produced is either further functionalised or directly used as a filler in thermoset polymer matrixes. An effective interaction between graphene and polymer matrixes is important and can be achieved by incorporating graphene into a thermoset polymer matrix through melt mixing, solution mixing or in situ polymerisation processes. In addition, by taking into consideration the importance of green and sustainable composites, the details of previous work on graphene reinforced bio-thermoset polymer matrixes is discussed. The resultant mechanical and thermal properties of the composites were associated to the chemical interaction between the graphene filler and a thermoset matrix. Exploration for further variations of graphene polymer composites are discussed by taking the reinforcement properties in graphene composite as a starting point

Mechanical properties of graphite filled unsaturated polyester and unsaturated polyester/palm oil blend resin

This research aim to investigate the effect of graphite loadings in unsaturated polyester (UPE) / acrylated epoxidized palm oil (AEPO) blend resin. The modification of epoxidized palm oil (EPO) to AEPO was carried out using acrylation process and further blended with synthetic UPE resin. Graphite powder was added at 0.03, 0.05 and 0.1 phr into the UPE/AEPO blend resin and cured in an oven at 100 °C and 160 °C. FTIR spectrums showed the disappearance of oxirane ring and existence of carbon double bond indicating successful of AEPO synthesis process. Tensile and Izod impact test revealed that, graphite showed different effects to neat UPE and UPE/AEPO blend resin. In neat UPE, graphite significantly improved the stiffness properties at 0.1 phr additions. However in UPE/AEPO blend resin, the toughness properties were improved with increased graphite loadings

Kenaf fiber/pet yarn reinforced epoxy hybrid polymer composites: morphology, tensile and flammability properties

The application of natural fibers is rapidly growing in many sectors, such as construction, automobile, and furniture. Kenaf fiber (KF) is a natural fiber that is in demand owing to its eco-friendly and renewable nature. Nowadays, there are various new applications for kenaf, such as in absorbents and building materials. It also has commercial applications, such as in the automotive industry. Magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) is used as a fire retardant as it is low in cost and has good flame retardancy, while polyester yarn (PET) has high tensile strength. The aim of this study was to determine the horizontal burning rate, tensile strength, and surface morphology of kenaf fiber/PET yarn reinforced epoxy fire retardant composites. The composites were prepared by hybridized epoxy and Mg(OH)2 PET with different amounts of KF content (0%, 20%, 35%, and 50%) using the cold press method. The specimen with 35% KF (epoxy/PET/KF-35) displayed better flammability properties and had the lowest average burning rate of 14.55 mm/min, while epoxy/PET/KF-50 with 50% KF had the highest tensile strength of all the samples. This was due to fewer defects being detected on the surface morphology of epoxy/PET/KF-35 compared to the other samples, which influenced the mechanical properties of the composites

Achieving high uptake of human papillomavirus vaccination in Malaysia through school-based vaccination programme

Abstract Background In 2006, 4 years of planning was started by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia (MOH), to implement the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination programme. An inter-agency and multi-sectoral collaborations were developed for Malaysia’s HPV school-based immunisation programme. It was approved for nationwide school base implementation for 13-year-old girls or first year secondary students in 2010. This paper examines how the various strategies used in the implementation over the last 7 years (2010–2016) that unique to Malaysia were successful in achieving optimal coverage of the target population. Methods Free vaccination was offered to school girls in secondary school (year seven) in Malaysia, which is usually at the age of 13 in the index year. All recipients of the HPV vaccine were identified through school enrolments obtained from education departments from each district in Malaysia. A total of 242,638 girls aged between 12 to 13 years studying in year seven were approached during the launch of the program in 2010. Approximately 230,000 girls in secondary schools were offered HPV vaccine per year by 646 school health teams throughout the country from 2010 to 2016. Results Parental consent for their daughters to receive HPV vaccination at school was very high at 96–98% per year of the programme. Of those who provided consent, over 99% received the first dose each year and 98–99% completed the course per year. Estimated population coverage for the full vaccine course, considering also those not in school, is estimated at 83 to 91% per year. Rates of adverse events reports following HPV vaccination were low at around 2 per 100,000 and the majority was injection site reactions. Conclusion A multisectoral and integrated collaborative structure and process ensured that the Malaysia school-based HPV immunisation programme was successful and sustained through the programme design, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. This is a critical factor contributing to the success and sustainability of the school-based HPV immunisation programme with very high coverage