Thermoformability Study Of Oil Palm Shell Derived Carbon Black-Kenaf (OPS-KENAF) Thermoplastic Lightweight Composite

Abd Manaf, Edeerozey and Mohamad, Noraiham and Munawar, Rose Farahiyan and Shamsuddin, Zurina and Abd Latif, Mohd Juzaili (2018) Thermoformability Study Of Oil Palm Shell Derived Carbon Black-Kenaf (OPS-KENAF) Thermoplastic Lightweight Composite. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Recently,there is a growing interest on the use of kenaf-based materials for high-end uses such as in automotive industry.Natural fibers have become the potential alternatives to replace synthetic fibers due to their low cost,renewability,biodegradability,environmentally friendly and comparable mechanical properties.Although many researches have been carried out on the natural fibers reinforced polymer composites,there are still not many studies reported on hybrid composites that use a combination of bio-based fibers and particles as reinforcements.In this study,the effects of type and heat treatment of the natural filler,as well as the kenaf fiber form,on the properties of kenaf/polypropylene (kenaf/PP) composite were evaluated using mechanical, physical and morphological analysis.The composites were fabricated using melt mixing,extrusion and compression moulding processes.As the results,firstly,it was found that the kenaf short fiber/PP composite added with rubber seed shell powder (RSSP) exhibits higher overall mechanical properties compared to the composite added with oil palm shell powder (OPSP).This is probably due to higher cellulose content in RSSP that can create good intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonds,thus improve the mechanical properties.However,the higher cellulose content of the RSSP leads to higher water absorption of the RSSP added composite.Secondly,the kenaf non-woven/OPSP/PP demonstrates higher mechanical properties compared to the kenaf short fiber/OPSP/PP hybrid composites due to more uniform fiber architecture and distribution of kenaf non-woven,which produces higher mechanical properties compared to short fibers that are more randomly distributed in the composite.Nevertheless, the kenaf non-woven/OPSP/PP exhibits higher water absorption and thickness swelling because of the continuous nature of the fibers in non-woven sheet as opposed to the isolated fibers surrounded by hydrophobic polymer matrix in the short fiber composite.Thirdly,the kenaf non-woven/PP added with activated carbon of oil palm shell powder (OPSC) shows the highest increment in mechanical properties,followed by the activated carbon of oil palm shell in granule form (OPSCG),without affecting the density.This is due to higher surface areas exhibited by the OPSC and OPSCG compared to the untreated OPSP.The high surface area of the activated carbons particles enhances the interfacial bonding of the fiber-matrix,and consequently improves the mechanical properties of the composites.Kenaf fiber/natural fillers reinforced PP composites have the potential to be applied in various areas,particularly in automotive industry due to their low density.The composites can be considered in the manufacturing of interior car parts such as dashboard, panels at car doors,parcel shelves,seatbacks,spare tyre covers and pans.

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