Material Engineering

Noorasikin Samat This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.1 , Muhammad Afnan Sulaiman1 , Zuraida Ahmad1 , and Hazleen Anuar1

1Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, International Islamic, University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

Received: July 29, 2020
Accepted: October 22, 2020
Publication Date: April 1, 2021

 Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.


Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202104_24(2).0011  


ABSTRACT

Awareness of the sustainability of the environment has inspired many researchers to explore the benefits of renewable resources like plant-based fibre, which then introduces the topic of the output of green products. The potential of polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA) based composites with two types of natural fibres, palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB) and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), as a moisture absorbent or desiccant was investigated. PP and PLA composites with various contents of EFB and MCC fibres were prepared using an internal mixer followed by hot pressing. To evaluate their use in certain applications, moisture uptake was measured through water absorption testing. Experimental results indicated that moisture uptake influenced by fibre loading, size of fibre and type of matrix. PLA/MCC composites exhibit considerable moisture uptake compared to other composite samples. Qualitative moisture uptake measurement was also carried out by packing the composites and green chillies in plastic bags and storing them at ambient humidity and temperature. The efficiency of the composites as a desiccant was in agreement with the results of the water test. Therefore, the developed composites have the potential to be used as a desiccant.


Keywords: moisture content; oil palm fibres, microcrystalline cellulose, composite, characterization


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