Development and characterisation of eco-friendly hybrid polymer composites from palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibre and glass fiber reinforced polyester for biomedical applications

Abstract

The growing demand for sustainable materials has prompted the use of natural fibre waste in composite development. This study investigates palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibres as reinforcement in polyester-based hybrid composites with glass fibres. Six composite formulations were fabricated and evaluated for their physical, microstructural, and mechanical properties. Water absorption, optical microscopy (OM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for characterisation, while mechanical performance was assessed through tensile, flexural, and impact tests following ASTM standards. The composite with 30% EFB fibres (EFB-3) showed a tensile strength of 12.79 MPa, while adding 5% glass fibres to 25% EFB (EFB-6) increased it to 23.37 MPa. The highest flexural strength (60.04 MPa) was observed in EFB-4. Although impact toughness remained low, glass fibre addition improved performance. These results highlight the potential of EFB-glass fibre hybrid composites as sustainable materials with tunable properties for biomedical applications.