TITLE:
Environmental Friendly Lightweight Material from Natural Fibers of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch
AUTHORS:
Andy Cahyaputra Arya, Rully Ario Dewanto Soeriaatmaja, Dorina Hetharia, Indra Surjati, Barlian Nasution, Revina Devi Rubijono, Yohanes Priadi
KEYWORDS:
Biodegradable Material, Empty Fruit Bunch of Oil Palm, Honey Comb, Natural Fibers for Technical Applications
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering,
Vol.3 No.7,
July
16,
2015
ABSTRACT: Indonesia is the most producer of crude
palm oil (CPO) worldwide with production more that 25 million tons in 2013.
Through increasing production of CPO the wastes generated are growing up as
well. The empty fruit bunch of oil palm (EFB) is one of the solid waste
(biomass) which is generated at the palm oil mill. Its amount is equivalent to
the CPO production, but only about 50% of its weight are good fibers for
further usage as industrial raw material. The EFB fiber consists an interesting
honey comb/lightweight structure. By mixing the EFB natural fiber with bio
binding agent based on potato the environmental friendly materials
(biocomposites) can be produced which are 100% biodegadrable. The biocomposites
with 2 mm thickness have strengthness about 7 GPa according to the 3 points
bending test standard of DIN 53 457. After coating process the environmental
friendly lightweight materials with density less than 0.4 g/cm3 will be ready
to be implemented for different technical applications.