Utilisation of Oil Palm Fibre Biomass Waste as Additives in Foamed Concrete

Worldwide, the construction industry has acknowledged the future demand for lightweight construction materials, with high workability, self-compacting, and environmentally friendly. Given this demand, recent innovative material namely foamed concrete (FC), has been found to reduce normal concrete’s weight potentially. However, while FC made with Ordinary Portland Cement has good compressive strength, other characteristics such as tension are relatively weak given the number of micro-cracks. Therefore, the study focused on the potential use of oil palm fibres in FC regarding their durability and mechanical properties. Notably, one of the major issues faced in the construction of reinforced FC is the corrosion of reinforcing steel which affects the behaviour and durability of concrete structures. Hence, in this study, oil palm fibres were added to improve strength and effectively reduce corrosion. Five types of fibre generated from oil palm waste were considered: oil palm trunk, oil palm frond, oil palm mesocarp and empty fruit bunch consisting of the stalk and spikelets. Specimens with a density of 1800 kg/m3 were prepared in which the weight fraction of the fibre content was kept constant at 0.45% for each mixture. Testing ages differed in testing and evaluating the parameters such as compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile strength, porosity, water absorption, drying shrinkage and ultrasonic pulse velocity. The results showed that the incorporation of oil palm fibre in FC helped reduce water absorption, porosity and shrinkage while enhancing the compressive, flexural and tensile strength of FC.

Mechanical Performance and Applications of CNTs Reinforced Polymer Composites—A Review

Developments in the synthesis and scalable manufacturing of carbon nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used in the polymer material industry over the last few decades, resulting in a series of fascinating multifunctional composites used in fields ranging from portable electronic devices, entertainment and sports to the military, aerospace, and automotive sectors. CNTs offer good thermal and electrical properties, as well as a low density and a high Young’s modulus, making them suitable nanofillers for polymer composites. As mechanical reinforcements for structural applications CNTs are unique due to their nano-dimensions and size, as well as their incredible strength. Although a large number of studies have been conducted on these novel materials, there have only been a few reviews published on their mechanical performance in polymer composites. As a result, in this review we have covered some of the key application factors as well as the mechanical properties of CNTs-reinforced polymer composites. Finally, the potential uses of CNTs hybridised with polymer composites reinforced with natural fibres such as kenaf fibre, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre, bamboo fibre, and sugar palm fibre have been highlighted.

Evaluation of the mechanical properties of sawdust, oil bean pod filler, raffia palm fibre and CaCO3 filled/epoxy hybridized composite

This work was carried out to develop green composite from organic materials which are cheaply available within Nigeria. This study deals with the hybridization of epoxy composite with different organic materials. Five diffident composites were produced with the hybridization of matrix, sawdust (SD), raffia palm fibre (RPF), oil bean pod filler (OBPF) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) mixed at different volume. The composite samples were produced through the hand layup method, and their tensile and flexural properties, determined in accordance to ASTM International procedures. Results obtained from the laboratory tests indicated that the reinforcement materials greatly influenced the mechanical properties of the composite samples. The result revealed that the hybrid composite of SD, CaCO3 and RPF had the best, compared to the other composite with different reinforcement materials. Similarly, it was observed that the composite produced with SD, OBPF and RPF had better tensile and flexural properties as compared to the composite reinforced with SD and CaCO3. This study affirmed that organic materials can be used to replace inorganic material (CaCO3), hence the actualization of green composite is practically feasible

Figure 2. Photos of plant fibre products: (A) bamboo baskets; calabash from pumpkin and brooms and chicken poops in Eswatini, (B) cane furniture; floor mats and baskets and palm fibre toys in Malawi and (C) baobab fibre mats; and palm and bamboo baskets in Zimbabwe. (Photo credits: Deepa Pullanikkatil (A,B) and Gladman Thondhlana (C).

<p>The production of plant fibre products is considered a promising pathway for contributing to people’s livelihoods particularly in developing countries, where economic options might be limited. However, there are limited comparative studies across countries on plant fibre products, making it difficult to examine how local and broader biophysical, socioeconomic, cultural and policy contexts influence craft production patterns in terms of primary plant resources used, products made and contributions to livelihoods. Using household surveys for data collection, this paper presents findings from a comparative analysis of plant fibre craft production and income in three southern African countries, Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe.</p>

Figure 2. Photos of plant fibre products: (A) bamboo baskets; calabash from pumpkin and brooms and chicken poops in Eswatini, (B) cane furniture; floor mats and baskets and palm fibre toys in Malawi and (C) baobab fibre mats; and palm and bamboo baskets in Zimbabwe. (Photo credits: Deepa Pullanikkatil (A,B) and Gladman Thondhlana (C).

<p>The production of plant fibre products is considered a promising pathway for contributing to people’s livelihoods particularly in developing countries, where economic options might be limited. However, there are limited comparative studies across countries on plant fibre products, making it difficult to examine how local and broader biophysical, socioeconomic, cultural and policy contexts influence craft production patterns in terms of primary plant resources used, products made and contributions to livelihoods. Using household surveys for data collection, this paper presents findings from a comparative analysis of plant fibre craft production and income in three southern African countries, Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe.</p>