Pengaruh Perlakuan Alkali dan Fraksi Volume Terhadap Sifat Fisik dan Mekanik Komposit Berpenguat Serat Tandan Kosong Kelapa Sawit

Abstract

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibers are promising as composite reinforcement because they are lightweight, widely available, environmentally friendly, and relatively low production costs. This study aimed to investigate the alkali treatment and volume fraction effects on the physical and mechanical properties of OPEFB fiber-reinforced composites. Reinforcement consisted of OPEFB fibers screened to 50 mesh, with polyester resin as the matrix and methyl ethyl ketone peroxide as the catalyst at a 100:1 resin-to-catalyst ratio. Fibers were alkali-treated using 4% NaOH for either 1 hour or 2 hours. Composites were fabricated with fiber volume fractions of 20% and 30%. An experimental program evaluated physical properties (density and water absorption) and mechanical properties (flexural strength and impact resistance). Results show that both fiber volume fraction and alkali treatment significantly affect the composites’ properties. The best performance was observed for the composite containing 20% fiber volume fraction treated with 4% NaOH for 2 hours, which achieved a flexural strength of 45.3 MPa and a water absorption of 0.65%.