Physicochemical properties of oil palm biomass waste fibres and its cellulose for engineering applications: a review

To reduce the environmental challenges associated with petroleum-based chemicals, this review assessed the physicochemical properties of oil palm biomass waste fibres and its cellulose as an alternative material to petroleum-based chemicals for engineering applications. The flexural (tensile) strength, compressive strength and Young modulus of oil palm biomass fibres are 51.73–600 MPa, 25–65 MPa and 0.95–35 GPa, respectively. These values and porous surface morphology indicate excellent reinforcement capability of oil palm biomass in polymer composite formulation. The oil palm biomass fibre is a potential material for advanced biotechnology and engineering applications due to its tenacity, high aspect ratio and cellulose content. The amorphous region permits oil palm biomass to tolerate stress without fracture if experiences increased viscoelasticity. The oil palm biomass has a caloric value of 18.067–21 MJ/kg which shows that it is a potential material for biofuel production. The addition of oil palm biomass fibre increased the properties such as flexural strengths of the reinforced polymer composites. This study showed that oil palm biomass waste fibre and its cellulose could be used for the development of advanced reinforced polymer composites for engineering and biotechnology applications such as sensors for energy, portable intelligent electronic product design, sensing devices, supercapacitors, stimuli-responsive materials, self-assembled biohybrids, bioelectronics and adsorption of hazardous pollutants from the environment to promote green chemistry.