Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability

Recycled fibres often exhibit reduced conformability and inter-fibre bonding capability compared to virgin fibres due to hornification. However, the lost potential of recycled pulp can be reclaimed through various methods, including mechanical beating, additive utilization, physical fractionation, a...

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Main Authors: Lee, Man Djun, Siti Khadijah, Alias, Ros Syazmini, Mohd Ghani, Chong, Kok Hing, Lee, Pui San
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Semarak Ilmu Publishing 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/1/Exploiting%20the%20potential%20of%20oil%20palm%20frond%20fibre.pdf
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author Lee, Man Djun
Siti Khadijah, Alias
Ros Syazmini, Mohd Ghani
Chong, Kok Hing
Lee, Pui San
author_facet Lee, Man Djun
Siti Khadijah, Alias
Ros Syazmini, Mohd Ghani
Chong, Kok Hing
Lee, Pui San
author_sort Lee, Man Djun
building UMP Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Recycled fibres often exhibit reduced conformability and inter-fibre bonding capability compared to virgin fibres due to hornification. However, the lost potential of recycled pulp can be reclaimed through various methods, including mechanical beating, additive utilization, physical fractionation, and blending. This study focuses on the blending approach, utilizing oil palm frond fibre to enhance the strength of paper made from recycled pulp. Despite the widespread cultivation of oil palm trees in Malaysia, the utilization of oil palm fibre remains limited, often being regarded as waste. Two different chemical pulping methods, namely sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphite, were employed to produce pulp from oil palm frond fibre, with the addition of anthraquinone to enhance pulping yield. Three different weight percentages of fibre loading (25%, 45%, or 65%) were used, with the remaining content supplemented with newspaper pulp. The resulting paper was evaluated for tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and examined using scanning electron microscopy to observe its morphology. The findings indicate that sulphite-soda anthraquinone treatment yielded superior pulp for paper production, and a 45% weight percentage of fibre loading exhibited the highest tensile strength, yielding the best paper quality. Overall, this study highlights the potential of incorporating oil palm frond fibre into the pulp and papermaking process, contributing to both economic growth and environmental sustainability.
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spelling ump-440562025-03-12T01:50:57Z http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/ Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability Lee, Man Djun Siti Khadijah, Alias Ros Syazmini, Mohd Ghani Chong, Kok Hing Lee, Pui San TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering Recycled fibres often exhibit reduced conformability and inter-fibre bonding capability compared to virgin fibres due to hornification. However, the lost potential of recycled pulp can be reclaimed through various methods, including mechanical beating, additive utilization, physical fractionation, and blending. This study focuses on the blending approach, utilizing oil palm frond fibre to enhance the strength of paper made from recycled pulp. Despite the widespread cultivation of oil palm trees in Malaysia, the utilization of oil palm fibre remains limited, often being regarded as waste. Two different chemical pulping methods, namely sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphite, were employed to produce pulp from oil palm frond fibre, with the addition of anthraquinone to enhance pulping yield. Three different weight percentages of fibre loading (25%, 45%, or 65%) were used, with the remaining content supplemented with newspaper pulp. The resulting paper was evaluated for tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and examined using scanning electron microscopy to observe its morphology. The findings indicate that sulphite-soda anthraquinone treatment yielded superior pulp for paper production, and a 45% weight percentage of fibre loading exhibited the highest tensile strength, yielding the best paper quality. Overall, this study highlights the potential of incorporating oil palm frond fibre into the pulp and papermaking process, contributing to both economic growth and environmental sustainability. Semarak Ilmu Publishing 2025 Article PeerReviewed pdf en cc_by_nc_4 http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/1/Exploiting%20the%20potential%20of%20oil%20palm%20frond%20fibre.pdf Lee, Man Djun and Siti Khadijah, Alias and Ros Syazmini, Mohd Ghani and Chong, Kok Hing and Lee, Pui San (2025) Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability. Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Mechanics, 130 (1). pp. 54-71. ISSN 2289-7895. (Published) https://doi.org/10.37934/aram.130.1.5471 https://doi.org/10.37934/aram.130.1.5471
spellingShingle TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Lee, Man Djun
Siti Khadijah, Alias
Ros Syazmini, Mohd Ghani
Chong, Kok Hing
Lee, Pui San
Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
title Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
title_full Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
title_fullStr Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
title_full_unstemmed Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
title_short Exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
title_sort exploiting the potential of oil palm frond fibre in recycled pulp blending for improved paper strength and sustainability
topic TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
url http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44056/1/Exploiting%20the%20potential%20of%20oil%20palm%20frond%20fibre.pdf