Properties and Interfacial Bonding Enhancement of Oil Palm Bio-Ash Nanoparticles Biocomposites

• Main Authors: C. K. Abdullah, I. Ismail, M. R. Nurul Fazita, N. G. Olaiya, H. Nasution, A. A. Oyekanmi, Arif Nuryawan, Abdul Khalil H. P. S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: oil palm bio-ash; agriculture waste; material characterizations; nanoparticle; nano biocomposite
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/10/1615

The effect of incorporating different loadings of oil palm bio-ash nanoparticles from agriculture waste on the properties of phenol-formaldehyde resin was investigated in this study. The bio-ash filler was used to enhance the performance of phenol-formaldehyde nanocomposites. Phenol-formaldehyde resin filled with oil palm bio-ash nanoparticles was prepared via the in-situ polymerization process to produce nanocomposites. The transmission electron microscope and particle size analyzer result revealed that oil palm bio-ash nanoparticles had a spherical geometry of 90 nm. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction results confirmed the formation of crystalline structure in oil palm bio-ash nanoparticles and phenol-formaldehyde nanocomposites. The thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the presence of oil palm bio-ash nanoparticles enhanced the thermal stability of the nanocomposites. The presence of oil palm bio-ash nanoparticles with 1% loading in phenol-formaldehyde resin enhanced the internal bonding strength of plywood composites. The scanning electron microscope image revealed that phenol-formaldehyde nanocomposites morphology had better uniform distribution and dispersion with 1% oil palm bio-ash nanoparticle loading than other phenol-formaldehyde nanocomposites produced. The nanocomposite has potential use in the development of particle and panel board for industrial applications.