Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin No.145 (Jan - Apr 2024) p10-16
Advancements in Oil Palm-Derived Composites: Engineering Insights and Innovation
Zawawi Ibrahim1*; Aisyah Humaira Alias1; Elina Hishamuddin1 and Noorshamsiana Abdul Wahab1

The palm oil industry stands as the primary contributor to biomass in Malaysia, generating a substantial amount of oil palm biomass waste annually. The industry produces a significant volume of biomass each year, comprising oil palm fronds (OPF), empty fruit bunches (EFB), oil palm trunks (OPT), palm mesocarp fibres, and palm kernel shells (PKS), as illustrated in Figure 1. The oil palm biomass is being effectively transformed into valueadded products through various industrial processes and applications (Ilyas et al., 2022). The abundance of these biomass can be turned into highly valuable composite products, which will bring in additional revenues for the nation. Therefore, much research on the replacement of man-made fibres with oil palm fibres as reinforcement materials in polymer composites has been invested for a more sustainable palm oil circular economy. Oil palm-derived composites may prove to be one of the most auspicious green materials owing to its acceptable mechanical properties, abundance, renewability, and biodegradability.





Author information:
1 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
*E-mail: zawawi@mpob.gov.my