Composite materials based on oil palm empty fruit bunch, polyvinyl alcohol and oca modified-starch

Abstract

Empty fruit bunch waste management, generating at Ecuadorian oil palm industry, has not been effectively tackled. Thus, the aim of the doctoral study is the use of these residues in composites development with different polymeric matrices. In the present work, compression molding was employed to elaborate composite materials based on empty fruit bunch fiber, polyvinyl alcohol and ureamodified-starch. The influence of three factors (processing temperature, fiber content and size) on modulus of elasticity was analyzed. Additionally, the presence of functional groups was examined by infrared spectroscopy. Overall results showed that raw materials were susceptible to be used in the formulation of flexible and macroscopically homogeneous composites. Infrared evaluation showed several functional groups associated not only to the composite components but also to starch carbamates. Although fiber content showed statistical significance over modulus of elasticity, no specific correlations were observed between the studied factors.