Abstract—Biocomposite were prepared by combining polylactic acid (PLA)with treated or untreated empty fruit bunch (EFB) fiber by melt compounding method to observe the effects of fiber surface treatments on the mechanical properties of the biocomposite. Surface treatment of the fiber was conducted using alkali followed by silane treatment. It was found that treated fibers showed superior mechanical properties of the reinforced biocomposite as compared with untreated fiber reinforced biocomposites due to the enhanced adhesion between the EFB fiber and the PLA matrix.

Index Terms—Biocomposites, empty fruit bunch, polylactic acid, surface treatments

Rosman Senawi, Sakinah Mohd Alauddin, and RuzitahMohdSaleh are with the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) (e-mail: rosman1979@gmail.com)
Mohammed Iqbal Shueb is with Malaysian Nuclear Agency.

Cite: Rosman Senawi, Sakinah Mohd Alauddin, Ruzitah Mohd Saleh, and Mohammed Iqbal Shueb, "Polylactic Acid/Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber Biocomposite: Influence of Alkaline and Silane Treatment on the Mechanical Properties," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 59-61, 2013.