M. T. Paridah

Recent advances in epoxy resin, natural fiber-reinforced epoxy composites and their applications

The versatile characteristic of epoxy and its diversity made it suitable for different industrial applications such as laminated circuit board, electronic component encapsulations, surface coatings, potting, fiber reinforcement, and adhesives. However, the pervasive applications in many high-performance field limited the epoxy use because of their delamination, low impact resistance, inherent brittleness, and fracture toughness behavior. The limitations of epoxy can be overcome by incorporation and modification before their industrial applications. Currently, modified epoxy resins are extensively used in fabrication of natural fiber-reinforced composites and in making its different industrial products because of their superior mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Present review article designed to be a comprehensive source of recent literature on epoxy structure, synthesis, modified epoxy, bio-epoxy resin, and its applications. This review article also aims to cover the recent advances in natural fiber-based epoxy composites and nanocomposites research study, including manufacturing techniques and their different industrial applications.

Acacia mangium Tannin as Formaldehyde Scavenger for Low Molecular Weight Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin in Bonding Tropical Plywood

One of the limitations in using low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde (LmwPF) resin as a binder for wood-based panels is the amount of the free formaldehyde being emitted during soaking, pressing and sometimes during the earlier stage of application. Tannin from bark extracts is rich in phenolic compounds, and thus may be able to absorb this free formaldehyde and at the same time provide strength to the joint. In this study, tannin–phenol-formaldehyde adhesives were prepared by blending Acacia mangium bark extracts (40% solids) with low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde (40% solids at 1:1 ratio). The tannin–LmwPF adhesive produced cured within 4 min at 130°C, reduced the free formaldehyde to level E1 of European norm EN-120. The 3-ply plywood had acceptable shear strength (>1.0 MPa) exceeding the minimum requirements of European norms EN-314-1 and EN-314-2:1993 for interior and exterior applications, respectively. The study has shown that Acacia mangium tannin can be used as formaldehyde scavenger in LmwPF resin without compromising the strength of the joints.

Oil Palm Biomass Fibres and Recent Advancement in Oil Palm Biomass Fibres Based Hybrid Biocomposites

© 2012 Khalil et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Oil Palm Biomass Fibres and Recent Advancement in Oil Palm Biomass Fibres Based Hybrid Biocomposites

Tensile, Electrical Conductivity, and Morphological Properties of Carbon Black-Filled Epoxy Composites

This work investigates the effect of carbon black content on the tensile, electrical, and morphological properties of epoxy matrix. Carbon black–filled epoxy composites were obtained by mixing the desired amount of carbon black from bamboo stem (BS-CB), oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB-CB), and coconut shell (CNS-CB) with the epoxy resin. Tensile and electrical properties of carbon black from three different sources (BS-CB, EFB-CB, and CNS-CB) used to fill epoxy composite with 5% filler loading were measured and the results indicated improvement in tensile and electrical properties. The diffraction patterns of X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated nonlinear crystalline amorphous structure of the CB.

Effect of Oil Palm and Jute Fiber Treatment on Mechanical Performance of Epoxy Hybrid Composites

In this work, oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and jute fibers were treated with 2-hydroxy ethyl acrylate (2-HEA) to improve interfacial bonding of oil palm EFB and jute fibers with epoxy matrix. Hybrid composites were fabricated by incorporation of modified oil palm EFB and jute fibers into an epoxy matrix by the hand lay-up technique. Mechanical (flexural and impact) and morphological properties of modified hybrid composites were measured. Results indicated that flexural and impact properties of modified fiber–reinforced hybrid composites improved as compared to untreated hybrid composites due to better fiber/matrix interfacial bonding, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. We confirmed that treated oil palm/jute hybrid composite may be fabricated by advanced techniques such as resin transfer molding, extrusion, and injection molding for industrial applications in the automotive sector.

Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Activated Carbon–Filled Epoxy Nanocomposites

Nano-activated carbons obtained from oil palm empty fiber bunch (AC-EFB), bamboo stem (AC-BS), and coconut shells (AC-CNS) were reinforced in epoxy matrix to fabricate epoxy nanocomposites. The dynamic mechanical analysis of epoxy nanocomposites was carried out, and 5% AC-CNS treated with KOH-filled epoxy composites displayed the highest storage modulus of all the activated carbon–filled epoxy composites. The incorporation of a small amount of AC-BS, AC-EFB, and AC-CNS to the epoxy matrix enhanced the damping characteristics of the epoxy nanocomposites. The 5% AC-EFB treated with H3PO4 filled epoxy composites showed the highest glass transition temperature (Tg) in all temperature ranges.

Properties Enhancement of Oil Palm Plywood through Veneer Pretreatment with Low Molecular Weight Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin

One of the problems dealing with oil palm stem (OPS) plywood is the high veneer surface roughness that results in high resin consumption during the plywood manufacturing. In this study, evaluation was done on the effects of pretreatment of OPS veneers with phenol-formaldehyde resin on the bond integrity and bending strength of OPS plywood. OPS veneers were soaked in low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin (LMW PF) for 20 seconds to obtain certain percentage of resin weight gain. OPS plywoods were produced using two types of lay-ups (100% outer veneer type and 100% inner veneer type) and two urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive spread amounts (200 g/m2 and 250 g/m2). The results show that pretreating the veneer with LMW PF could reduce the penetration of the adhesive into the fibres during gluing step. UF adhesive spread amount of 200 g/m2 is sufficient to produce good quality OPS plywood. The technique used in this study was able to enhance the mechanical properties of OPS plywood as well as reduce the amount of resin consumption.

Potential Utilization of Kenaf Biomass in Different Applications

Kenaf is regarded as an industrial crop, and belongs to family Malvaceae along with hibiscus (Hibiscus hibiscum L.), hollyhock (Althaea rosea), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), and okra (Hibiscus esculentus), and is grown commercially in different countries including Malaysia. It is undoubtedly the utmost important cultivated plant for fiber globally, next to cotton, a short day, herbaceous 4000 years old, original crop which is endemic to ancient Africa. It has a precise promising prospect because of its long fibers derived from outer fibrous bark, the bast with great potential in the biocomposite industry. The plants possess a wider range of adaptation to environments, climates, soils, and are rich sources of cellulose compared to any of other fiber plant in profitable manufacture industry. Kenaf reveals a virtuous source of high and improved quality cordage fiber which can be processed into a variety of goods such as fiber and particle boards, fiber-reinforced plastic components, pulp and paper, chemical absorbents, and many others. The tensile strength and modulus of solo kenaf fiber is found to be as high as 11.9 and 60 GPa, respectively. All the components of kenaf plant, leaves, seeds, bast fiber, and core, are of industrial importance. The countless variabilities in the utilization of kenaf only because of its appropriateness as construction material (such as boards of different densities, breadths, along with fire and insect resistance), adsorbent, textile, livestock feed, and fibers in original and reprocessed plastics are demonstrated by many recent studies and research efforts are increasing nowadays. Numerous other kenaf fiber products are also being developed and marketed. Thus, it is important to gather the information of its constituents and the matters governing the composition of the plant.

Effect of Chemical Modifications of Fibers on Tensile Properties of Epoxy Hybrid Composites

Treatment of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and jute fibers is carried out by using 2-hydroxy ethyl acrylate (2-HEA) to increase the interfacial bonding of fibers with the epoxy matrix. Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to measure the change of surface composition of the fibers after treatment. Modified oil palm and jute fibers were used as reinforcements for epoxy matrix to fabricate hybrid composites by the hand lay-up technique. Tensile and morphological properties of hybrid composites were studied, and tensile properties of hybrid composites prepared from chemically treated oil palm/jute fibers were found to be better than those of untreated hybrid composites. SEM micrographs disclose that interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix significantly improved in the hybrid composites. Developed hybrid composites can be exploited as alternative materials for development of automotive and structural components instead of synthetic fiber–reinforced polymer composites.

Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose Nanofibers from Gigantochloa scortechinii as a Reinforcement Material

Cellulose nanofibers CNF were isolated from Gigantochloa scortechinii bamboo fibers using sulphuric acid hydrolysis. This method was compared with pulping and bleaching process for bamboo fiber. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis were used to determine the properties of CNF. Structural analysis by FT-IR showed that lignin and hemicelluloses were effectively removed from pulp, bleached fibers, and CNF. It was found that CNF exhibited uniform and smooth morphological structures, with fiber diameter ranges from 5 to 10 nm. The percentage of crystallinity was significantly increased from raw fibers to cellulose nanofibers, microfibrillated, along with significant improvement in thermal stability. Further, obtained CNF were used as reinforcement material in epoxy based nanocomposites where tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of nanocomposites improved with the addition of CNF loading concentration ranges from 0 to 0.7%.