CHARACTERIZATION OF SELECTED BIOMASS FIBRES OF ELAEIS GUINEENSIS FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

This research study investigated the effects of 5% NaOH chemical treatment on chemical, physical and mechanical properties of selected biomass fibres sourced from the stalk of male flower bunch and palm frond of elaeis guineensis (oil palm tree). The treatment was carried out for 3 hours after which fibres were dried and characterized for property variations from the untreated fibres. Result of the chemical analysis showed that cellulose content got increased by 29.05% and 35.88% for male flower bunch and palm frond fibres respectively after treatment. This directly increased mechanical and structural strenghts of treated fibres by about 43-60% and 14-53% for male flower bunch and palm frond respectively due to reasonable reductions in hemicellulose and lignin contents. Physical property like density got reduced giving the treated fibres added advantage of high stength with low weight that is needed in engineering applications. Tensile strength increased directly with increasing fibre diameter due to reduction in ash content of treated fibre. Moduli and percentage elongation of treated fibre increased and became less consistent with diameter due reduction in anisotropic nature of fibres after treatment. The improvements in chemical stability, mechanical and physical properties of treated fibres over untreated ones show their high potential for use as structural reinforcement materials for polymer composite formulation for many engineering component production.