Our planet is blessed with abundant fibrous resources both naturally occurring and those synthesized by man. The conventional raw materials in the polymer composite industries are dominantly obtained from petroleum. Though, the reliance on petroleum for raw materials has been a matter of great concern due to the non-renewable nature of the resource and the associated alarming economic and environmental issues. To find green alternative, polymer scientists have recently engaged in utilizing the naturally occurring fibers and polymer materials for composites fabrication. Natural fibers (e.g. oil palm fibers, jute, sisal, bamboo etc.) used as reinforcement in the polymer composite industries have shown attractive advantages over the traditional glass and carbon fibers. The associated benefits include abundance on planet earth, renewability, biodegradability etc. However, the material properties (i.e. chemical, physical, mechanical, biological etc.) of the wide spectrum of natural and synthetic
fibers differ, so also the general properties of their corresponding composites. As such, hybrid fibers enable achieving improved material properties such as toughness of polymer composites. The oil palm fibers have been well exploited in the area of hybrid fiber polymer composites and had shown promising performance. This paper reviewed some of the previous works reported whereby the oil palm fibers were participating hybrid components. This paper also highlights the material performance of the oil palm fiber as a polymer reinforcement in hybrid composites and appraise the benefits of these hybrids in application areas such as automobiles, building and construction, furniture etc.
Key words: Oil palm fiber, hybrid, composite and polymer
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