Dimensional Stability Properties of Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) from Treated Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) Fibres

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of pre-treatments by using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and acetic acid on oil palm Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) fibres for the production of Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF). The EFB fibres were treated with chemicals in the concentration range of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6% and 0.8% prior to refining. Single-homogenous layer MDF with 12 mm thickness and density of 720 kg/m3 was produced. Urea-Formaldehyde (UF) was applied at 10% loading (based on dry weight of dry fibres) as a binder. The physical properties (Water Absorption (WA) and Thickness Swelling (TS)) of the produced panels were tested according to European Standard, EN 622-5:2006. The results show that types of chemical used had greater effects than concentration on the dimensional stability of the MDF. EFB fibres treated with acetic acid produced MDF with better dimensional stability compared to the MDF NaOH treated fibres. High concentration of NaOH produced poor dimensional stability in the panels.

<i>In-Situ</i>Impregnation of Copper Nanoparticles on Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Powder

Copper nanoparticles were impregnated onto oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) powders via in-situ sol-gel method. The impregnation and interfacial interaction of copper nanoparticles with EFB were analysed by fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The interaction of copper nanoparticles with the surface functional groups of EFB powders was identified by FTIR analysis. The peak shift of O-H and C-O functional groups indicated the interaction between EFB and copper nanoparticles. Besides that, XRD and EDX analysis confirmed the formation of copper nanoparticles on EFB powder. Due to the copper impregnation, the crystallinity of the EFB was increased as shown by XRD. The particles size of nanoparticles was analysed via TEM and AFM where the sizes were in the range of 60 - 100 nm. These findings strongly suggest that, copper nanoparticles impregnated EFB powders can be synthesized via in- situ sol gel method.

Development of Cu Nanoparticle Loaded Oil Palm Fibre Reinforced Nanocomposite

Functionalized copper nanoparticles (FCuNPs) have been synthesized by chemical reduction method and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) performed as a stabilizer in that medium. Analysis observed that the average size of the synthesized FCuNPs was 3.5 nm. The obtained FCuNPs were loaded in the oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) natural fibre. Before the loading of FCuNPs in EFB fibres, the surface of the fibres is tailored by the cationic agent CHPTAC since they have a natural tendency to exhibit negatively charged surface owing to the presence of large amount of hydroxyl groups. Thereafter, different types of composite were developed and their properties were studied. The composites were developed by using the untreated empty fruit bunch (UEFB) fibres and FCuNPs loaded EFB (NP-CAEFB) fibres with commercially available unsaturated polyester resin (UPER). The synthesized composites were characterized through FTIR, FESEM, XRD, DSC, tensile strength tests, etc. The obtained biodegradation results indicated that significant weight loss was not observed for neat PER and PER/FNP-CAEFB nanocomposite, whereas, the UEFB/VUPER composite showed ca. 21.4% weight loss at 90 days, which was considered rationally due to the preferential degradation of the fibre.

Effect of Refining Parameters on Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) Properties from Oil Palm Trunk

The properties of medium density fibreboard (MDF) made from oil palm trunk (OPT) as affected by refining pressure and preheating time were investigated. The OPT chips were refined in the MDF pilot plant by using four refining pressures (2, 4, 6 and 8 bar) and four different preheating time (100, 200, 300 and 400 seconds). The refined fibres were blended with 10% of urea formaldehyde with a board target density of 720 kg/m3. MDF boards were evaluated based on European Standard EN 622-5:2006 for thickness swelling (TS), internal bonding (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the significance of the factors. The results from this study indicated that refining pressure and preheating time are significant factors for all MDF properties. Low refining pressure and preheating time produced higher TS, lower MOR and MOE with poor bonding than those boards prepared from fibres refined at higher refining pressure and longer preheating time. OPT fibre treated with 8 bar produced good swelling resistance but detrimental on mechanical properties of the finish board. 6 bar steam pressure offered the highest value of mechanical properties (MOE, MOR and IB). Boards from intermediate refining condition (6 bar and 300 seconds) were found the better board properties having 14.58%, 0.73 N/mm2, 38 N/mm2 and 3597 N/mm2 for TS, IB, MOR and MOE respectively.