چكيده لاتين :
APproximately 22% of waste from the oil palm industry consists of empty fruit bunch
(EFB), This type of biomass along with a vast quantity of agricultural residues can
be utilized in natural fibre-based composites, Previous studies on palm kernel oil
have successfully turned it into a polyurethane polyol in producing natural oil-based
polyurethane foam, The incorporation of different EFB fibre sizes at levels of 5,5% of 4556
11m, 4,5% of 100-160 11m and 2.5% of 200-315 11m in the foam has shown tremendous
improvement in the mechanical properties of the composites compared to the control
foam. The compressive strength increased by 11,1%, 11.6% and 29.1% for the 4556
11m, 100-160 11m and 200-315 11m fibre size, respectively. The 45-56 11m fibre size at
5.5% fibre loading showed the maximum compression strength and modulus, There is
more tearing of cellular structure during expansion of the foams when larger size of fibres
and larger amount of fibres are used, These lead to poor compositeיs strength.
Micrographs of the cellular structure of the EFB-filled polyurethane foam showed that the
presence of the fibrous EFB of size 200-315 11m torn the cellular structure, whereas the
powder form of EFB filled the struts of the cellular network and enhanced the strength of
the cellיs wall.
