Hashim, Mohamad Mohshein (2023) Characterization of oil palm empty fruit bunches fiber mixed low-density polyethylene (PEFB-LDPE) polymer composites for deck panel. Masters thesis, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

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Abstract

Currently, Malaysia relies heavily on landfills with approximately 85% of waste collected ending up in dumpsites, especially oil palm biomass and plastic waste. Malaysia is one of the largest producers of oil palm. The huge production of palm oil generates oil palm biomass has resulted in a significant waste disposal problem. The major dumping issue results have given the presence of the volume of palm oil biomass of Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (PEFB). Therefore, to solve this issue regarding waste, the waste from the by-product of PEFB and LDPE can be promoted as the infill material in polymer composites. The preparation of the samples involved the grinding process of PEFB fiber of different ratios with 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 into a small particle size of 1.3 – 1.5 mm. The PEFB-LDPE polymer composites were transferred to a 200 mm x 200 mm aluminum using a close-mold method at room temperature (24ºC ± 2ºC) for 24 hours for the curing process. The PEFB-LDPE ratio of 0.3 achieved a density of 1.0677 g/cm3 and average porosity of 12.8%. The SEM image 0.3 PEFB-LDPE demonstrates fewer pores and better fibers and epoxy resin matrix dispersion. Lower pores in 0.3 PEFB-LDPE samples indicate the higher mechanical strength of the composite. The tensile strength test (ASTM D3039) showed that the ratio of 0.3 PEFB-LDPE achieved the highest tensile strength at 18.18 MPa with a strain percentage of 3.28%. It is like a flexural strength test (ASTM D7264), the ratio of 0.3 PEFB-LDPE revealed the highest value at 26.20 MPa with the impact energy of (ASTM D7136) at 159.89 J/m and energy absorbed at 10.10 kJ/m2. For the compression strength test (ASTM D95), the ratio of 0.3 PEFB-LDPE produces a higher value at 12.59 MPa. In terms of sound absorption (ASTM E1050), the PEFB-LDPE ratio of 0.3 was 0.50 at a frequency of 1250 Hz, but the α increased to 0.59 at a frequency of 2000 Hz. The material is considered sound absorbent if the average sound absorption coefficient is greater than 0.2 after all the five major frequencies have been calculated. In conclusion, the ratio of 0.3 PEFB-LDPE was good mechanical properties of tensile, flexural, impact strength, and sound absorption compared to the commercial polymer composite of kenaf bast and kenaf core in fabricating the deck panel applications

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