DefinePK

Abstract

Oil palm fibre (OPF) and eggshell powder (ESP) reinforced natural rubber was developed in this project. The effects of OPF/ ESP loading on the curing characteristics, mechanical properties and morphological properties of OPF/ ESP reinforced rubber were investigated. For these purposes, five different natural rubber compounds were produced. Three of the rubber compounds were OPF/ ESP natural rubber composites with various loadings of OPF and ESP. The other two rubber compounds were unfilled natural rubber and carbon black reinforced rubber used to benchmark the hybrid bio-filled natural rubber composites. The ESP was prepared from eggshell waste and underwent heat treatment to enhance its properties. For OPF, alkali treatment was conducted to reduce the lignin content on the surface of the fiber and to improve the adhesion between the rubber matrix and OPF. From the experimental results, it was found that as the ESP loading increases and OPF loading decreases, tensile strength and elongation-to-break increases. Hysteresis loss and hardness value decreases as ESP loading increases and OPF loading decreases. Curing time was independent of the OPF/ ESP loading. Scanning electron microscope results revealed that the distribution and adhesion interaction between the hybrid fillers and rubber matrix was good. The experiments had shown promising results that OPF/ ESP reinforced rubber compounds can be used to replace carbon black reinforced rubber in the future.