Electron beam processing of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers - polypropylene composites

Researches on oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers and thermoplastic composites have been carried out by many workers in the last decade. The main focus was to enhance the properties of the resultant composites in view of the incompatibility of the two components. Thus, efforts have been made to enhance their properties by using coupling agents, treating the fibers and modifying the matrices. In this study, the effects of electron beam (EB) irradiation and some reactive additives (RAs) on the mechanical properties of EFB-PP (polypropylene) composites were evaluated. Different modes of irradiation were investigated. Mono, di and tri functional of monomers of RAs were used. Irradiating PP alone, compared to irradiating the EFB fibers or irradiating both components, gave optimum properties for EFB-PP composites. Further improvements of the properties of the composites were achieved with the addition of RAs with TMPTA (trimethylol propane triacrylate) giving the optimum results. (author)