Enau PolyLA (FDM Filament)

MOHD HAKIM MOHD NASIR, DR MASTURA MOHAMMAD TAHA, DR NADLENE RAZALI, TS DR SYAHIBUDIL
IKHWAN ABDUL KUDUS, DR NUZAIMAH MUSTAFA,DR RIDHWAN JUMAIDIN, DR YUSLIZA YUSUF

Introduction Problem Statement

Garbage and waste that people throw away, not only
stay in one place, but flows from land to the ocean by stream
and river. As part of the effort to counter this, a study of
biodegradable and environmentally friendly composite was
proposed to give more options for application of natural
based composite. Natural fibers such as enau (sugar palm) is
common materials for industrial use, as they have high
specific strength, renewability, sustainability, and eco-
efficiency. Their capability of absorbing carbon dioxide shows
promising value in mitigating environmental pollution. Unlike
plant fiber composites, the prolonged lifetime of synthetic
fiber composites has detriment environmental impact
through over-accumulation of landfill sites. Employing enau
fiber for developing a filament for Fused Deposition Modeling
(FDM) as a material to reinforce PLA composite can be the
long-term solution.
OBJECTIVES;
1. To characterize the thermal, rheological, mechanical
and morphological properties of chemical treated
enau fiber reinforced PLA composite filament.
2. To characterize thermal, rheological, mechanical and
morphological properties of enau fiber reinforced PLA
composite filament with different fiber loading.
1. Natural fibres consist of lignin, pectin, and cellulosic
contents which increases the ingress of water and
moisture from the surrounding. This affects the
interfacial adhesion between polymer and fibres .This
adhesion problem is a result of the hydrophilic nature of
the fibre in contact with hydrophobic behaviour of
polymer matrix.
2. Too much fibre loading leads to wetting problems and
low fibre loading indicates the composites are brittle
and the fibres are porous Also might affect the nozzle
extrusion process because clogging might occur. So,
the right value of fibre loading for PLA composite need
to be identified to eliminate those issues.
Commercial Potential
Environmentally friendly material for product of food
packaging
Great durability & strength of the composite use in
application for automotive ,transportation for
construction’s parts and structure.

Process Flow Application for kids toys and home furniture

Twin Screw Filament

Extruder Printing Specimes
produced specimen
Mix EF
Prepare EF Treatment
&
into 125 µm process of
PLA
particle EF
(NaOH & Silane)