Fabrication of Binder-less “green” particle board using oil palm residue

Nowadays, the energy demand in Malaysia has increase, so the alternative sources such as Oil Palm which leaves abundance of waste product such as Oil Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) and Oil Palm Frond (OPF). Many of the industries in Malaysia will burn the waste to generate electricity through steam. Although the burning of the waste product seems to have settle the problem, the increasing of the waste problem increase year by years which can be utilized into other product such as bio-composite materials. The content of lignocellulosic material inside the oil palm waste which is consists of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. This is a greater possibility to reduce the solid-waste problem. Bio-composite material is very important nowadays because it can be used widely such as, replacing the petro-based plastic and used as once-use material. This is because; the bio-composite is biodegradable which is easy to dispose. Hence, the production of the bio-composite material by using oil palm waste is important and should be further study. From this project, through the three main analysis which is Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Thermalgravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), the particle board A show more preferable choice because the number of lignin-cellulose component inside the particle based on FTIR show higher compared to C and D while lower than B. Although the particle board A show lower composition than B, the FESEM result show lower pores volume compared to other. Thus, the particle board A is more preferable choice compared to particle B, C and D.