Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 7944–7949 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Science and Engineering A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea Mechanical performance of oil palm empty fruit bunches/jute fibres reinforced epoxy hybrid composites M. Jawaid a , H.P.S. Abdul Khalil a,* , A. Abu Bakar b a School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia b School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia article info Article history: Received 20 August 2010 Received in revised form 1 September 2010 Accepted 2 September 2010 Keywords: Hybrid composites Flexural properties Impact properties Scanning electron microscopy abstract Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB)/jute fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites with different sequence of fibre mat arrangement such as EFB/jute/EFB and jute/EFB/jute were fabricated by hand lay-up method. The effect of layering patterns on the mechanical performance of the composites was studied. The hybrid composites are intended for engineering applications as an alternative to synthetic fibre composites. Mechanical performance of hybrid composites were evaluated and compared with the pure EFB, pure jute composites and neat epoxy using flexural and impact testing. The flexural properties of hybrid composite is higher than that of pure EFB composite with respect to the weight fraction of fibre, where as the impact strength of pure EFB composite is much higher than those of hybrid composites. The flexural results were interpreted using sandwich theory. The fracture surface morphology of the impact testing samples of the hybrid composites was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Natural fibres such as cotton, jute, flax, kenaf, banana, sisal, oil palm and pineapple leaf fibre have been in considerable demand in recent years due to its eco-friendly and renewable nature. Nat- ural fibres offer various advantages such as low density, low cost, biodegradability, acceptable specific properties, better thermal and insulating properties and low energy consumption during process- ing [1–3]. Natural fibres are neutral with respect to the emission of CO 2 , and this put lignocellulosic fibres as materials in context with the Kyoto protocol [4]. Empty fruit bunch (EFB) is obtained after the removal of oil seeds from fruit bunch for oil extraction. At present, by-products of oil palm are not efficiently utilized, and the explosive expan- sion of oil palm plantation has generated enormous amounts of vegetable waste, creating problems in replanting operations and tremendous environmental concerns. It is reported that, during the recent past years, Malaysia alone produced about 30 million tons annually of oil palm biomass, including trunks, fronds, and empty fruit bunches. Therefore, economic utilization of these fibres will be beneficial [5]. Jute is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly natural fibre procured from the bast * Corresponding author at: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Main Campus, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Tel.: +60 4 6532200; fax: +60 4 657367. E-mail address: akhalilhps@gmail.com (H.P.S. Abdul Khalil). or skin of the plant’s stem and the second most important natural fibre after cotton, in terms of usage, global consumption, produc- tion, and availability. It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breath ability of fabrics. Traditional use of jute for packaging and other diversified products is consuming only a small percentage of the total world production of jute. Among the natural fibres, jute fibre is the most promising reinforcement material due to its high content of cellulose and available in abun- dant. The combination of biofibres like oil palm, kenaf, industrial hemp, flax, jute, henequen, pineapple leaf fibre, sisal, wood and various grasses with polymer matrices from both non-renewable (petroleum based) and renewable resources to produce composite materials that are competitive with synthetic composites such as glass–polypropylene, glass epoxies, etc., is gaining attention over the last decade. Bledzki and Zhang have reported on the usage of jute fabrics as reinforcement for the preparation of composites [6]. Available data in literature usually covers hybrid composites made of natural fibres/synthetic fibres and remembering that plant-based fibres have been selected as suitable reinforcements for composites due to their good mechanical performances and environmental advantages. The primary advantages of using oil palm fibres in hybrid composites are its low densities, non- abrasiveness and biodegradability. Hybrid composites reinforced with natural fibres, very often combined with synthetic fibres such as glass fibres, can also demonstrate good mechanical per- formance [7–10]. Polymer composites with hybrid reinforcement solely constituted of natural fibres are less common, but these are also potentially useful materials with respect to environmental 0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.msea.2010.09.005