Lignocellulosic Sugar Palm Fibre-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites: Mechanical, Thermal and Dynamic Mechanical Properties

Abstract

Lignocellulosic fibre obtained from forest biomass has various advantages, especially in product development due to its abundance and ability in mechanical properties. Sugar palm fibre (SPF) has emerged as promising fibre reinforcement in composite industries to form high-strength and stiffness biocomposites. Due to environmental concerns such as air pollution and global warming, the global community has worked together to replace conventional plastic with biomass waste like SPF in various product types. Traditionally, sugar palm by-products are useful for various traditional uses such as traditional foods, gula kabung, and alcohol, while SPF is applied as rope, brooms and brushes. Numerous researchers have taken initiatives to implement SPF in the packaging sector and transport uses such as lifeguard boats. Some works have proved that SPF-reinforced polymer composites exhibit high mechanical strength and remarkable properties in thermal degradations. However, like other lignocellulosic fibres, the SPF exhibits high water absorption properties, which causes problems binding with thermoplastic matrix, reducing its performance. Based on the literature survey, no review has been carried out on discussing the mechanical and thermal behaviour of SPF-reinforced thermoplastic composites. Hence, the current review aims to establish concise and collective findings from previous works on SPF/thermoplastic composites to provide a good source of literature for further research on this topic.