Ihak Sumardi

Non-wood Renewable Materials: Properties Improvement and Its Application

Plant biomass are woody and non-wood materials (e.g., oil palm, bamboo, rattan, bagasse, and kenaf) and are abundant and renewable resource. Unfortunately, the heavy reliance on this resource is a threat to forest ecosystems and a recipe for accelerated land resource degradation. Due to the increasing scarcity of wood resources, many rural communities have shifted to utilization of crop residues for many different applications. The non-wood biomass is readily available, environmental friendly, and technologically suitable, and therefore, an excellent raw material for the future. The non-wood materials like bamboo, rattan, oil palm, and bagasse have superior properties and durability, which can be further prolonged by the modification treatment. The modification treatments increase the performance of the non-wood and could make it suitable for applications in many fields ranging from construction industry to automotive industry. This chapter deals with the properties improvement techniques of the selected non-wood biomasses and evaluates its applications for various purposes. The new developments dealing with the improvement of non-wood properties have also been presented in the chapter. The performance of non-wood biomass materials has been compared to the wood-based materials. Recent studies pertaining to the above topics have also been cited. Finally, the advanced applications of the improved non-wood biomasses have been highlighted.

Bionanomaterial from agricultural waste and its application

Agricultural waste has significant potential in composites due to its high strength, availability, and sustainability. The potential of agricultural waste has sparked a lot of research to find ways to use these materials as replacements for synthetic materials and for biocomposite polymer products. Pineapple, rice husk, oil palm, banana, coconut, etc., are sources of renewable energy. Their availability comes especially from plantations and waste from some other agricultural industries. Lignocellulose is a major component of agricultural waste and consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. In addition, it represents a major source of natural fibers as an alternative raw material for biocomposites. Now, there are many potential applications for bionanocomposites that have been explored, such as packaging, automotive, and others application. This chapter will concentrate on the fundamental properties of different agriculture wastes. At the end, some points regarding nanocomposite production and its applications for various purposes will be discussed.