Dielectric properties of oil palm-natural rubber biocomposites

In recent years, low cost composites made from plant oil sources proved of interest for dielectric applications, showing also some potential for future application as dielectric in microchips and circuit boards. In this work, the dielectric properties of oil palm/natural rubber composite materials were characterized. The basic material was formed with pure rubber. This was modified in different ways, by adding 20 or 30% wt. of untreated oil palm fibres, in the shape of 6 mm long macrofibers, or by treating the fibers with silane. Dielectric properties of the modified materials with respect to the original one were measured. In all cases, the effect due to the rubber modification on the dielectric properties was noticeable. In particular, a clear increase of the loss factor was obtained with fiber treatment. In contrast, the effect of the lower level of fiber content used (20%) on the dielectric properties was less evident.