Characterization of ultrasound-treated oil palm empty fruit bunch-glass fiber-recycled polypropylene hybrid composites

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad R. Islam ◽  
Makson Rivai ◽  
Arun Gupta ◽  
Mohammad Dalour H. Beg

Abstract Glass fiber (GF) and ultrasound-treated oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) were used to prepare recycled polypropylene (RPP)-based hybrid composites through the extrusion and injection molding technique. The ultrasound technique was used to remove the lignin and other surface impurities from the EFB fiber by varying the treatment conditions (treatment time and temperature). A fixed concentration (10%) of NaOH solution was used as the treatment medium. Fiber loading was considered as 40%, while EFB and GF ratio was maintained as 70:30. Two types of coupling agents of maleic anhydride grafted PP (MAPP), Polybond and Fusabond, were used, each of an amount 2.5% (of the total fiber content), to improve the interfacial adhesion between fibers and matrix. Composites were characterized through density, melt flow index (MFI), tensile, flexural and Izod impact testing. In addition, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also performed to evaluate the thermal and morphological properties, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed to evaluate the crystalline structure of the samples. Finally, water uptake (WU) measurement was performed for 180 days of soaking period. Result analyses revealed improved mechanical, thermal and crystalline properties, with reduced WU as the outcome of treatment and coupling agent effects.

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 986-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
MR Islam ◽  
A Gupta ◽  
M Rivai ◽  
MDH Beg

Composites were prepared from recycled polypropylene (RPP), oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and/or glass fibre (GF) using extrusion and injection moulding techniques. Two types of maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene such as Polybond 3200 and Fusabond P 613 were used to improve the interfacial adhesion between fibres and matrix. The EFB: GF ratio was fixed as 70:30 and fibre loading was considered as 40 wt%. Microwave was used to treat the EFB fibre, which was soaked in a fixed mass concentration (12.5%) of alkali solution at different temperatures (70, 80 and 90°C) for a fixed period of time (60 min) and for different times (60, 90 and 120 min) at a fixed temperature (90°C). A magnetron controller was developed to control the time and temperature accurately for the treatment of fibre. Various characterization techniques such as density, melt flow index, tensile, Izod impact, flexural, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and water uptake testing were performed for the composites. Besides, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were also used to evaluate the thermal and crystalline properties of the composites, respectively. Result analyses revealed that microwave-treated fibre-based composites showed improved mechanical and thermal properties. EFB fibres treated at 90°C for 90 min were found to be suitable for better reinforcement into the composite in terms of mechanical, thermal and crystalline properties. Moreover, onset degradation temperature and water absorption properties were also found to be changed apparently due to treatment.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002199832110541
Author(s):  
Emel Kuram

The effect of filler amount and kind on the crystalline structure, thermal stability, and mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties of polyamide 6 (PA6) was studied in this research. Glass bead and glass fiber were chosen as mineral fillers. They were incorporated to PA6 solely or in mixed formulations at different proportions (hybrid composites). Tensile strain, tensile strength, impact strength, flexural strain, flexural strength, melt flow index, crystallite size, and thermal degradation parameters were determined for all composites. The addition of glass bead or glass fiber increased the brittleness of pure PA6. The incorporation of glass fiber to pure PA6 improved flexural, impact, and tensile strengths, and mixing of glass bead with pure PA6 polymer caused deterioration of both (tensile and flexural) strengths, but enhanced impact strength. Among hybrid composites, the highest flexural, tensile, and impact strength values were achieved with 15 wt% glass bead and 15 wt% glass fiber content. The addition of glass bead and/or glass fiber to PA6 polymer caused a decrement in melt flow index value. X-ray diffraction results indicated that pure PA6 polymer had α- and γ-crystalline forms, and the reinforcement of glass bead or glass fiber would induce the crystallization into γ-form. It was also found that the incorporation of glass bead or glass fiber influenced the lamellar thickness, and pure PA6 gave thicker lamellar crystal than that of glass bead/fiber-reinforced PA6 and its hybrid composites. Higher thermal stability with glass bead or glass fiber incorporation was found as compared to pure PA6 polymer.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arif Nuryawan ◽  
C. Abdullah ◽  
Che Hazwan ◽  
N. Olaiya ◽  
Esam Yahya ◽  
...  

Using oil palm trunk (OPT) layered with empty fruit bunch (EFB), so-called hybrid plywood enhanced with palm oil ash nanoparticles, with phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin as a binder, was produced in this study. The phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins filled with different loading of oil palm ash (OPA) nanoparticles were prepared and used as glue for layers of the oil palm trunk (OPT) veneer and empty fruit bunch fibre mat. The resulting hybrid plywood produced was characterised. The physical, mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of the hybrid plywood panels were investigated. The results obtained showed that the presence of OPA nanoparticles significantly affected the physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the plywood panels. Significant improvements in dimension from water absorption and thickness swelling experiments were obtained for the plywood panels with the highest OPA nanoparticles loading in PF resin. The mechanical properties indicated that plywood composites showed improvement in flexural, shear, and impact properties until a certain loading of OPA nanoparticles in PF resin. Fracture surface morphology also showed the effectiveness of OPA nanoparticles in the reduction of layer breakage due to force and stress distribution. The thermal stability performance showed that PF filled OPA nanoparticles contributed to the thermal stability of the plywood panels. Therefore, the results obtained in this study showed that OPA nanoparticles certainly improved the characteristic of the hybrid plywood.


2008 ◽  
Vol 47-50 ◽  
pp. 486-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasama Jarukumjorn ◽  
Nitinat Suppakarn ◽  
Jongrak Kluengsamrong

Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites became more attractive due to their light weight, high specific strength, biodegradability. However, some limitations e.g. low modulus, poor moisture resistance were reported. The mechanical properties of natural fiber reinforced composites can be improved by hybridization with synthetic fibers such as glass fiber. In this research, mechanical properties of short sisal-PP composites and short sisal/glass fiber hybrid composites were studied. Polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) was used as a compatibilizer to enhance the compatibility between the fibers and polypropylene. Effect of weight ratio of sisal and glass fiber at 30 % by weight on the mechanical properties of the composites was investigated. Morphology of fracture surface of each composite was also observed.


Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 646
Author(s):  
Siti Madiha Muhammad Amir ◽  
Mohamed Thariq Hameed Sultan ◽  
Ain Umaira Md Shah ◽  
Mohammad Jawaid ◽  
Syafiqah Nur Azrie Safri ◽  
...  

This work investigates the dynamic impact response of Kevlar/oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) hybrid composite structures with/without gamma radiation under low velocity impact (LVI) and compression after impact (CAI) test. The layering pattern Kevlar/oil palm EFB/Kevlar (K/OP/K) was applied in this work. Irradiation with gamma ray with various doses were applied from 25–150 kGy. LVI results shows that hybrid Kevlar/oil palm EFBs (Kevlar/OPEFB) that were not irradiated have greater impact resistance as compared to irradiated hybrid Kevlar/OPEFB. It was also observed that the hybridization of Kevlar/OPEFB with gamma irradiation helped to improve the compressive residual strength of the composites. It was found that Kevlar/OPEFB hybrid composites with the layering sequence K/OP/K can withstand up to 35 J of impact energy, with the optimum gamma radiation dose at 50 kGy.


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