CHARACTERISTIC OF PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH (PEFB) FIBERS REINFORCED LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (LDPE) FOR PEFB/LDPE POLYMER COMPOSITES

Abstract

The study presents the characteristic of Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (PEFB) fibers reinforced Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) for PEFB/LDPE polymer composites into deck panel application. This research aims to formulate the different composition ratios of PEFB fibers reinforced for PEFB/LDPE polymer composites into deck panel application. The importance of this study is to fabricate a new material environmentally polymer composite material from waste resources of oil palm such as PEFB fibers abundant in Malaysia. This research includes the different composition ratios of PEFB fibers, which are 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 (wt/wt%) reinforced LDPE plastic waste mixed with epoxy resin and hardener with a ratio of 3:1. The waste fiber from PEFB was grinded into 0.5 mm-1.5 mm ± 0.05 to produce fine fibers with an 18000-rpm speed grinder machine. The mixture was poured into a mold and cured for 48 hours at room temperature. The physical and mechanical testing was conducted on the sample with different composition ratios of PEFB fibers. It is revealed that the greater ratio of PEFB fibers, 0.5 (wt/wt%), produced the lowest density of 1.048 g/cm³ and maximum porosity up to 60%. The tensile strength test showed 0.4 (wt/wt%) of PEFB fibers reinforced with LDPE plastic waste had the highest tensile strength at 6.20 MPa that exerted 360.89 N of force. It can be concluded that the optimal composition for deck panel application is 0.4 (wt./wt.%) PEFB/LDPE polymer composites.