[en] The synthesis of RBD palm kernel oil (PKO) polyurethane polyol and the polyurethane foam has well been documented. However, less study has been put in discovering the thermal properties and crystallinity of the foam. It is also an initiative to investigate the effect of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and sorbitol as fillers in the polyurethane (PU) foam to these properties. Thermogravimetric (TGA) investigation of the PKO PU foam was performed to study their decompositions. The semi-crystalline nature of EFB-filled PU was confirmed by x-ray diffratogram and DSC thermogram of glass transition temperature, T_g. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) study of the unfilled PU showed a broad amorphous halo, indicative of absence of crystallinity in the polymer, which has been explained as due to strong hydrogen bonding in the hard phase. Overall crystallinity decreases with an increase in the polyester content in agreement with the XRD results. The crystallinity however, increases with the inclusion of EFB in the polyurethane system. This study was followed by the observation of the surface morphologies of the PKO PU foam with and without fillers. The scanning electron micrographs verified the finding on the improved k-factor values. (Author)

No abstract available

[en] Effects of aluminium hydroxide (ATH) addition on the properties of palm-based polyurethane composites were investigated. The hybrid composites were prepared by mixing 10 wt % of oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (EFB) with ATH at varying amount of 2, 4 and 6 wt % of the overall mass of the resin. The compression stress and modulus gave the highest values of 575 and 2301 kPa, respectively at 2 wt % loading of ATH. The compression stress and modulus decreased drastically at 4 wt % (431 kPa and 1659 kPa, respectively) and further decreased at 6 wt % ATH (339 and 1468 kPa, respectively). However, the burning rate is inversely proportional to the loading percentage where the highest burning rate was observed at 2 wt % ATH. Sound absorption analysis indicated a large absorption coefficient at high frequency (4000 Hz) for all samples. The highest absorption coefficient was obtained from PU-EFB/ ATH with 4 wt % ATH. (author)

[en] Radiation curable hyperbranched urethane acrylate (HBPUA) from oleic acid of palm oil was synthesized aided by p-toluene sulfonic acid as a catalyst. This mixture was then used as the core (HBP-1) and reacted with palm oil oleic acid to form the hyperbranched polyol (HBP-2). HBPUA was prepared by reacting HBP-2 resin with diisocyanate and hydroxyl-containing acrylate monomer with the presence of 0.1-2 wt% dibutyltin dilaurate as a catalyst. The reaction was confirmed by several analytical data i.e. hydroxyl value (OHV), Fourier Transform infrared (FT IR) spectroscopy gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analyses. The HBPUA was easily curable when subjected to electron beam (EB) or ultraviolet (UV) radiation. (authors)

[en] Monosaccharides in oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (EFB) were determined by methanolysis and acetylation. Three types of EFB samples, namely untreated EFB, EFB pretreated with hot water and EFB pretreated with hot water followed by 10 % (w/ w) sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous solution were used. The FTIR spectrum indicated the disappearance and shifting of aromatic and carbonyl functional groups, syringyl propane unit, guaisacyl propane unit and C-H lignin. The filter cake undergone methanolysis and alditol acetate treatments to detect the composition of reducing sugars. Gas chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID) analysis was conducted to determine the type and quantity of reducing sugars produced. Acetylation produced two types of monosaccharides namely glucose and galactose whereas methanolysis detected only one type of monosaccharide, which was xylose. The extracted monosaccharides obtained from hot water pretreatment followed by 10 % (w/ w) NaOH aqueous solution treatment analysed by methanolysis and acetylation were 178.4 mg/ g xylose and 29.9 mg/ g glucose respectively. About 0.76 mg/ g xylose was extracted from hot water pretreated EFB fiber by methanolysis. Acetylation detected monosaccharides in untreated EFB and identified as glucose with the amount of 19.15 mg/ g, whereas monosaccharides from hot water pretreated EFB fiber were identified as glucose and galactose at 6.32 mg/ g and 2.83 mg/ g respectively. (author)

[en] Palm-based polyurethane (PU) with soybean oil phosphate ester (PE) as a fire retardant was prepared. The effect of PE to the mechanical and burning properties of the PU was investigated. The PE was synthesized via ring-opening hydrolysis between o-phosphoric acid (o-H₃PO₄) and epoxidized soybean oil. The synthesis was conducted at 60-70 degree Celsius. The concentration of o-H₃PO₄ was varied at 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 wt %. PE with 2.5 wt % H₃PO₄ showed the lowest acid value (2.8 mgg^-1) but high hydroxyl value (351.6 mgg^-1) PU containing PE (PU-PE) has higher density (60-61 kgm^-3) compared to control PU (49.7 kgm^-3). Burning rate decreased from 2.16 x 10^-3 ms^-1 for control PU to 1.26 x 10^-3 ms^-1, 1.06 x 10^-3 ms^-1 and 0.6 x 10^-3 ms^-1 for PU-PE at 5, 10 and 15 wt % PE respectively. However, the addition of PE into the PU system gradually decreased the compression stress and modulus of the PU-PE. (author)

[en] In-situ polymerization method was used to prepare palm-based polyurethane (PU) composites loading with 15 wt % magnetite (Fe₃O₄), poly aniline (PANI) and Fe₃O₄ coated with PANI labeled as PU15, PP and PPM, respectively. FTIR spectroscopy analysis indicated a shift in the carbonyl, C=O and NH in PP. The shift of the peak indicated that there was hydrogen bonding between the C=O (proton acceptor) of urethane with NH (proton-donator) of PANI. PPM gave the highest impact and flexural strengths at 4875 kJ/ m² and 42 MPa, respectively but with the lowest flexural modulus (1050 MPa). Two-stage degradation behavior was observed in the TGA thermo gram. (author)

[en] Full text: Comprehensive knowledge of the chemical components in the sago hampas will facilitate the use of the materials in agricultural industrial sector and help to enhance their utilization in the chemical and biochemical related industry. This paper studied the chemical composition of sago hampas especially in the extractives, holocellulose, cellulose, lignin and ash content. The chemical compositions of sago hampas were determined accordance with the standard outlined in TAPPI test methods. The results revealed that the mean cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin values were 14.32, 17.45 and 4.83 % respectively. (author)

[en] This investigation has been performed to study the effect of water on water micro emulsified diesel on the fuel properties and engine performance. Selective tests of engine performance were performed in order to compare the efficiency in the engine between formulated water micro emulsified diesel and conventional diesel fuel. The formulated water micro emulsified diesel used were diesel/T80/1-pentanol/water 60:20:15:5 wt % (System 1), 55:20:15:10 wt % (System 2) and 50:20:15:15 wt % (System 3). These fuels withstand stability over a month in storage. The result showed that the engine brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) increased as the water concentration in the system increased. Instead of showing higher fuel consumption than diesel fuel, System 1 and System 2 fuels show good fuel properties that meet the ASTM requirements for cloud point, calorific value and pour point for bio diesel. Further investigation in the gas emission test must be carried out in order to finding its potential as alternative fuels. (author)

[en] An investigation on the thermal and mechanical properties of rigid polyurethane (PU) foam from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste (of plastic drinking bottles) was conducted. The PET waste was glyco lysed with ethylene glycol prior to blending with palm based-polyol (PKO-p). This blend was then reacted with 2, 4-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) at a ratio of 1:1 to form the PU foam. The incorporation of the glyco lysed PET (g-PET) into the PKO-p was studied at 50, 70 and 100 % w/ w loading. PU foam prepared from 100 % w/ w g-PET (without PKO-p) resulted in PU with high glass transition temperature and mechanical strength. This water-blown foam has molded and core densities of 182 kg m^-3 and 179 kg m^-3, respectively, with maximum compressive stress and modulus at 396 kPa and 1920 kPa, respectively. An initial enthalpy value of 3164.8 cal g^-1 and a glass transition temperature of 65 degree Celsius were observed. (author)