Effect of Kenaf/Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Hybridization and Weight Fractions in Palm Oil Blend Polyester Composite

ABSTRACT

This research is aimed to investigate the effect of different weight percent of kenaf and empty fruit bunch (EFB) hybrid compositions and fiber fractions (wt%) on the mechanical and thermal properties of unsaturated polyester (UPE)/epoxidized palm oil (EPO) composite. The kenaf and EFB fibers were first treated with an alkali solution before being pressed using a hydraulic hot-pressed machine. In this study, three different kenaf/EFB hybridization compositions were studied which are 100/0, 90/10, 70/30, and 50/50 (wt%) at three different fiber weight fractions (9%, 12%, and 15%) reinforced in UPE/EPO resin. The fiber treatment successfully removed the majority of the moisture, cellulose, and hemicellulose of kenaf and EFB fiber. The mechanical study revealed that the higher composition of EFB in kenaf/EFB hybrid fiber increased Young’s modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break, and impact strength of the resulted composite at 9 and 12 wt% fiber fractions. Thermal analysis proved that the hybridization fibers and higher fiber weight fractions improved the thermal stability by reducing the decomposition rate of the composites. Overall, kenaf/EFB hybridization reinforced in UPE/EPO resin is a good approach toward green composite development.

摘要

本研究旨在探讨不同重量百分比的红麻与空果串（EFB）混杂组分和纤维组分（wt%）对不饱和聚酯（UPE）/环氧棕榈油（EPO）复合材料力学性能和热性能的影响. 红麻纤维和EFB纤维在用液压热压机压制前先用碱溶液处理. 在本研究中，我们研究了三种不同的红麻/EFB杂交组分，即100/0、90/10、70/30和50/50（wt%），在三种不同的纤维重量分数（9%、12%和15%）下用UPE/EPO树脂增强. 纤维处理成功地去除了红麻和EFB纤维的大部分水分、纤维素和半纤维素. 力学研究表明，在纤维质量分数为9%和12%时，红麻/EFB混杂纤维中EFB含量越高，复合材料的杨氏模量、拉伸强度、断裂伸长率和冲击强度越高. 热分析表明，杂化纤维和较高的纤维质量分数降低了复合材料的分解速率，提高了复合材料的热稳定性. 总之，在UPE/EPO树脂中增强红麻/EFB杂化是绿色复合材料发展的良好途径.

KEYWORDS:

• Bio-resin
• bio-composite
• kenaf
• palm oil
• empty fruit bunch
• natural fibers
• hybrid

关键词:

• 生物树脂
• 生物复合材料
• 红麻
• 棕榈油
• 空果串
• 天然纤维
• 杂交

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by FRGS grant funded by Ministry of Higher Education (FRGS/1/2019/STG07/UMP/02/2, RDU1901105) and Universiti Malaysia Pahang Research Grant (RDU 1903136), which the authors gratefully acknowledge. The authors are also thankful to Budi Oils Sdn. Bhd for supplying epoxidized palm oil (EPO) for this study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Ministry of Higher Education [FRGS/1/2019/STG07/UMP/02/2 (RDU1901105)]; Universiti Malaysia Pahang [RDU 1903136].