Abstract

To achieve a green composite product with large range of potential applications, industries are developing nano-sized fillers from biomass material. In the present work, the potentiality of utilizing date palm trunk fiber, as agricultural waste for the development of fire retardant nano-filler, was investigated. Two different nanofiller products (Nanofiller-55 and Nanofiller-99) were prepared from the date palm–derived microfiller through combined chemical process and high-energy ball milling. Characterization was conducted for the produced nanofiller as well as microfiller, through advanced testing analysis. From morphology examination, the nanofiller was revealed as individually dispersed nanoparticles in rectangular-like shape under transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Meanwhile, the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) presented the nanofiller particles in irregular shapes with rough surface after the breakdown of compact microfiller structure by ball milling process. The particle size analysis also proved that small nanoparticles in the mean size range of 274.5–289.7 nm were generated for both Nanofiller-55 and Nanofiller-99 samples. Furthermore, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis presented the presence of carbon and oxygen as the major fiber elements in nanofillers, while the residual silica, sulfur, calcium, potassium elements were detected to decrease after combined treatment process. Additionally, the physico-chemical analysis revealed those nanofillers possessed great crystallinity between 58 and 67%, which could impart them as strong load-bearing agent. As for thermal analysis, both Nanofiller-55 and Nanofiller-99 samples exhibited high decomposition temperature, while showing stable degradation behavior with enhanced heat resistance. Thus, the produced nanofillers in this work can be used as fire retardant material for nanocomposites fabrication in the future.

中文翻译：

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椰枣生物质阻燃纳米填料的开发和表征

摘要

为了获得具有广泛潜在应用的绿色复合材料产品，行业正在开发由生物质材料制成的纳米填料。在目前的工作中，研究了利用枣椰树干纤维作为农业废物来开发阻燃纳米填料的潜力。两种不同的纳米填料产品（Nanofiller-55 和 Nanofiller-99）是通过组合化学工艺和高能球磨从枣椰微填料中制备出来的。通过先进的测试分析，对生产的纳米填料和微填料进行了表征。从形态检查来看，纳米填料在透射电子显微镜（TEM）下显示为矩形状的单独分散的纳米颗粒。同时，场发射扫描电子显微镜（FESEM）显示，通过球磨过程破坏致密的微填料结构后，纳米填料颗粒形状不规则，表面粗糙。粒度分析还证明 Nanofiller-55 和 Nanofiller-99 样品均生成了平均尺寸范围为 274.5–289.7 nm 的小纳米粒子。此外，能量色散X射线（EDX）分析表明，碳和氧是纳米填料中主要的纤维元素，而联合处理工艺后检测到残留的二氧化硅、硫、钙、钾元素有所减少。此外，物理化学分析表明这些纳米填料具有58%至67%之间的良好结晶度，这可以赋予它们作为强承载剂的作用。在热分析方面，Nanofiller-55和Nanofiller-99样品均表现出较高的分解温度，同时表现出稳定的降解行为和增强的耐热性。因此，本工作中生产的纳米填料可以用作未来纳米复合材料制造的阻燃材料。