Enhancement of physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of biocomposite for the fire resistant material application

Abstract

This study deals with the enhancement of physical and mechanical properties of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers (OPEFB) for new fire resistant material application. Two flame retardants (organic and inorganic) were applied to improve the fire resistant capability of the produced fibers. The fire resistant capability was tested according to the ASTM D6413-99 method. Mechanical properties were characterized using a universal testing machine and the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to investigate their thermal behaviors. The surface morphology of the produced fibers was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This study found that the fire resistant capability of the fibers can be improved by the addition of flame retardants. Thermal properties of the treated fibers can be enhanced compared to the untreated fibers. Mechanical properties inspection revealed that increasing the flame retardant concentration (0.5 to 1 M) can improve their tensile strength but started to decrease at a higher concentration (3 M). In general, the present work successfully performed the enhancement of non-woven OPEFB properties for foreseeable fire resistant material applications.