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The physical and optical properties viz., water absorption pattern, density, color and opacity of oil palm fiber-LLDPE composites were studied. The effect of fiber size, fiber loading and fiber treatment on the above parameters was also studied. Alkali treatment on fibers was done to reduce the hydrophilic nature of composites. It was found that the water absorption in most of the combinations followed typical fickian behavior. The rate of water absorption and swelling increased with fiber loading. However alkali treatment on fibers resulted in reduction of water absorption at higher fiber loading only and composites with higher fiber size exhibited higher water absorption. True density of oil palm fiber-LLDPE composites were in the range of 967-1177 kg m-₃, whereas the bulk density ranged from 942-1122 kg m-₃. The dielectric constant of the composite was in the range of 3.22 to 6.73.

The research on using natural fibres as the reinforcement in plastic composites has increased dramatically in the last few years. Flax fibres are renewable resources with low specific mass, reduced energy consumption, and relatively low in cost. These advantages make flax fibres recognized as a potential replacement for glass fibres in composites. Among plastic, polyethylene was concluded to be a suitable material used as matrix in natural fibre reinforced biocomposites. However there are few studies on this area so far. In this paper, the processing method of flax fibre-reinforced polyethylene biocomposites is introduced. Flax fibre polyethylene biocomposite consists of flax fibre as the reinforcing component and high density polyethylene as the matrix. Acrylic acid pre-treatment was applied to flax fibre to improve the bonding between fibre and polyethylene.

The properties of oil palm fiber were estimated and compared with oil seed flax and industrial hemp fibers. Biocomposite of oil palm fiber and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) was manufactured. The effect of fiber size, fiber content and fiber treatment on dimensional stability of the biocomposite was studied. The true density of oil palm fiber is found to be 1503 kg m-₃. The oil palm fibers obtained from field contained nearly one-fourth impurities, and the equilibrium moisture contents (EMC) values of fibers nearly doubled with 25% increase in relative humidity. The dielectric constant of oil palm fiber was in the range of 7.76-8.31. The oil palm fiber resulted in thermograms with two endothermic peaks and three exothermic peaks with the first degradation temperature at 301.71°C. Alkali treatment reduced first degradation temperature to 297.1°C.

A new direction in biocomposite manufacturing is to integrate natural fibers and recycled polymers for manufacturing of some innovative products for various industrial uses including automotive under hood parts. The performance of these new materials are comparable to existing ones even with the replacement of synthetic fiber with biodegradable natural fiber from agricultural residue and with the shift from pure polymer to recycled polymer. Thermoplastic are reinforced with flax fiber mostly used to develop biocomppsite. Most of the research reviewed indicated that very limited work had been done on using flax fiber with recycled post consumer thermoplastic to make biocomposite. The goal of this research is to develop recycled biocomposite material by using flax fiber as a reinforcement and recycled post consumer thermoplastic as matrix and streamline the manufacturing process with optimal processing condition and fiber percentage.

This article summarizes an experimental study on the mechanical and thermal properties of high density polyethylene (HDPE) compression molding jute biocomposites. Various type of chemical treatment such as NaOH, silane treatment etc are performed to improve the adhesion between the fibers and the HDPE matrix. Variations in fiber percentage, fiber size are maintained as a function of mechanical properties and thermal properties are studied. Mechanical strength of composite shows that composites with silane and NaOH treated exhibit more mechanical strength than untreated composites. Mechanical properties are assessed by tensile, flexural and hardness test and thermal properties are assessed by melting temperature. From the result obtained, thermal characteristics of the composites can be conclude that composites made with NaOH and silane treatment of fiber exhibit more melting temperature compare to untreated one but not significantly.

The ethanol industry is established mainly in the United States and Europe. In the US, over 95 percent of ethanol is corn-based. This ethanol production pathway has been criticized for having an unfavourable net energy balance and significant arable land and water requirements, as well as environmental impacts such as soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and higher volatile organic compound and NOx pollution. The legislation to limit green house gas (GHG) emissions is a key driver of lignocellulosic ethanol which has been shown to reduce GHG emissions drastically (88%). The feed versus fuel debate is also driving lignocellulosic feedstocks such as agricultural and forestry residues (canola straw), herbaceous (alfalfa, switch grass) and woody crops. For this reason, major ethanol producers such as the US have identified agricultural and forestry residues, municipal solid wastes, herbaceous and woody crops as feedstocks for the production of transportation fuel.