Development of Nipah Palm Fibre Extraction Process as Reinforcing Agent in Unsaturated Polyester Composite

Syed Tarmizi, Syed Shazali and Tracy, Dicke and Noor Hisyam, Noor Mohamed (2023) Development of Nipah Palm Fibre Extraction Process as Reinforcing Agent in Unsaturated Polyester Composite. In: Composites from the Aquatic Environment. Composites Science and Technology . Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore, pp. 181-202. ISBN 978-981-19-5326-2

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Abstract

This chapter discussed the extraction of nipah (Nypa fruticans) palm fibre as composite reinforcing agent. The properties including physical, chemical, thermal, crystalline, surface morphology, tensile strength and water absorption of untreated and alkali treated nipah palm fibre were investigated in this work. There were two types of fibres extracted from the fronds, grouped as Fibre A and Fibre B, with average diameters of 0.530 mm and 0.039 mm respectively. The untreated and alkali treated nipah palm fibre were studied for its behaviour using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Hand lay-up and cold press method were used to fabricate nipah palm composite. The highest composite strength and Young’s Modulus for Fibre A were 29.36 MPa and 471 MPa respectively. For Fibre B composites, the highest strength was at 29.67 and 102 MPa for its Young’s Modulus. The results of water absorption test showed better absorption resistance of treated fibre towards water. Future work direction of this investigation is to use vacuum bagging method to fabricate the composites and to use different types of polymer matrix. Based on the results obtained from this investigation, nipah fibre composites maybe used for non-load bearing structures such as car component, food and pharmaceutical packaging and bio-based electronics.

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