Synergistic effect of oil palm based pozzolanic materials/oil palm waste on polyester hybrid composite

This research work aims to investigate the synergistic effect of pozzolanic materials such as oil palm ash (OPA) and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) on the developed hybrid polymer composites. The OPEFB and OPA fillers of different particle sizes (250, 150, and 75 µm) were mixed at OPEFB:OPA ratios of (0:100; 20:80; 40:60; 60:40; 80:20 and 100:0) and incorporated into an unsaturated polyester resin. Furthermore, both mechanical and morphological properties of the composites were analyzed and it was found that tensile, flexural, and impact properties were significantly improved at OPEFB:OPA of 75 µm particle size hybridization of the polymer. The increase of OPEFB to OPA filler ratio up to 80:20 significantly improved the tensile properties of the composites while 40:60 ratio of 75 µm gave the optimum filler ratio to obtain the highest flexural and impact properties of the composites among all studied samples. Scanning electron micrograph images showed strong particle dispersion of the embedded fillers with resin which explained the excellent mechanical strength enhancement of the composite

High-pressure enzymatic hydrolysis to reveal physicochemical and thermal properties of bamboo fiber using a supercritical water fermenter

Bamboo fiber was treated using a high-pressure enzyme hydrolysis process. The process performance was compared with the pulping and bleaching process for bamboo fiber.Several analytical methods, including field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry, were employed to determine the physicochemical and thermal properties of the treated cellulosic bamboo fiber. It was found that the pressurized enzyme hydrolysis treated bamboo fiber had the most uniform morphological structure, along with lowest crystallinity and highest thermal stability. Thus, utilizing high-pressure enzyme hydrolysis is the most effective process for treating fiber to remove non-cellulosic components from the raw material, including lignin, hemicelluloses, and waxy materials

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

Synthesis and characterization of a new heterocyclic azo pigment

A new heterocyclic coupling agent has been produced from the reaction of maleic anhydride and p-aminophenol, namely N-(4-hydroxylpheneyl)maleimide. The coupling agent underwent azo coupling reaction with aromatic amine, which is p-aminophenol to produce a new heterocyclic azo pigment. The pigment was then subjected to solubility, hiding power and light fastness test. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/Vis) Spectroscopy, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR) were used to obtain the characteristics and structural features of the pigment

Square circular polarized dielectric resonator antenna with a rotated notch

A square dielectric resonator antenna is mounted on the edge of substrate, which is excited simply with a microstrip line. The DRA radiates from both upper and lower side and is optimized to have the maximum surface to volume ratio. For circular polarization, a 45 degree rotated square notch is drilled inside the DRA and the microstrip line is designed to be at the right side of the DRA. A circular magnetic current creates a dramatic low axial ratio for a wide matching rate. The proposed compact DRA antenna showed a good radiation characteristic with an impedance bandwidth of 5.9GHz between 3.9GHz and 9.8GHz and axial ratio of 1.25GHz between 3.9GHz and 5.15GHz and axial ratio of 900MHz between 7GHz and 7.9GHz. The results are numerically investigated with Microwave CST Studio software

Physical, mechanical and morphological properties of laminated bamboo hybrid composite: a potential raw material for furniture manufacturing

Laminated hybrid composites were prepared by incorporating dry bamboo strips and oil palm trunk veneer (OPTV) to form five-layer laminated composites. Two different species of bamboo were used including Dendrocalamus asper and Gigantochloa levis to explore their potential for furniture manufacturing. Influence of the bamboo species along with the different arrangements of lamination on the physical, mechanical and morphology properties of the hybrid laminated composites were investigated via scanning electron microscope (SEM), density, water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS) as well as impact and hardness strength test. Morphological study showed that filling up of surface cavity by adhesive improved the bonding strength between the surfaces of the bamboo strips and OPTV in the laminated hybrid composites. Additionally, different layer arrangements affected the mechanical properties, i.e., perpendicular arrangement exhibited higher strength compared to the parallel arrangement for both hardness and impact strength. The species of bamboo did not show significant impact on the density for different layer arrangements. Thus, test results clearly indicated that bamboo strips and OPTV hybrid composites could be used as an alternative to wood-based composites for furniture manufacturing

Evaluation of double loop IC module for inductive coupled fed RFID tag wire embedded antenna

This paper presents an evaluation on double loop integrated circuit module for inductive couple fed RFID Tag. The inductive couple feed gives advantage especially for flexible wire embedded antenna in controlling the manufacturing varians as the chip is not directly connected to the antenna. Thus electrostatic discharged effect and manufacturing errors can be minimized. An inductor loop is directly connected to the RFID chip before it is placed to indirectly coupled the energy from a meandered dipole antenna. The coupled energy should be enough to turn on the chip to communicate with the reader. The inductive coupled energy is achieved by manipulating the near field magnetic field between the antenna body and the inductor loop. To evaluate the performance, the antenna and the inductive feeding loop is designed to operate at RFID UHF band (860 MHz – 960 MHz) and simulated using CST software. The antenna body impedance is evaluated to match the impedance of the chip and the loop. It is confirmed that the double loop inductor has higher inductance values and thus should be counted in conjugate impedance between the antenna body and the chip module. The tag with overall dimension of 60 mm x 16 mm can be read at distance at least 9 meters through out the band

A compact dual-band microstrip antenna array with Artificial Magnetic Conductor

In this paper, an approach for designing a compact microstrip antenna array using Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) for dual-frequency operation are presented. The designs of single element, 1×2 and 2×2 array yield a good gain with compact size. The radiating patch for the 2×2 array has dimensions 48 × 57 mm with ground plane (GP) size of 63 × 95 mm. The antennas introduce the U-slot structure designed below the patch to create the second resonant frequency. The AMC then used as the back plane for the antennas to increase the gain and redirect the back radiation as well as provide shielding to the antenna. Proposed design antenna operates at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz and suitable for ISM band application

Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose Nanofibers from Gigantochloa scortechinii as a Reinforcement Material

Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were isolated from Gigantochloa scortechinii bamboo fibers using sulphuric acid hydrolysis. This method was compared with pulping and bleaching process for bamboo fiber. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis were used to determine the properties of CNF. Structural analysis by FT-IR showed that lignin and hemicelluloses were effectively removed from pulp, bleached fibers, and CNF. It was found that CNF exhibited uniform and smooth morphological structures, with fiber diameter ranges from 5 to 10 nm. The percentage of crystallinity was significantly increased from raw fibers to cellulose nanofibers, microfibrillated, along with significant improvement in thermal stability. Further, obtained CNF were used as reinforcement material in epoxy based nanocomposites where tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of nanocomposites improved with the addition of CNF loading concentration ranges from 0 to 0.7%

High-Pressure Enzymatic Hydrolysis to Reveal Physicochemical and Thermal Properties of Bamboo Fiber Using a Supercritical Water Fermenter

Bamboo fiber was treated using a high-pressure enzyme hydrolysis process. The process performance was compared with the pulping and bleaching process for bamboo fiber. Several analytical methods, including field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry, were employed to determine the physicochemical and thermal properties of the treated cellulosic bamboo fiber. It was found that the pressurized enzyme hydrolysis treated bamboo fiber had the most uniform morphological structure, along with lowest crystallinity and highest thermal stability. Thus, utilizing high-pressure enzyme hydrolysis is the most effective process for treating fiber to remove non-cellulosic components from the raw material, including lignin, hemicelluloses, and waxy materials