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Insights into Crystallization Kinetics of Acrylonitrile Grafted Oil Palm Fiber Composites under Non-Isothermal Conditions

Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Physics, G. N. Khalsa College, Matunga, Mumbai, India

Res. J. Physical Sci., Volume 14, Issue (2), Pages 9-13, August,4 (2026)

Abstract

The development of thermally stable and sustainable polymer composites reinforced with natural fibers has gained considerable interest for advanced engineering applications. Oil palm fibers, an industrial waste of oil mills has been utilized as reinforcement in resole type phenol formaldehyde resin for composite fabrication. The crystallization kinetics and thermal behavior of untreated and acrylonitrile grafted oil palm fiber reinforced phenol-formaldehyde composites have been systematically investigated and compared. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was employed to examine the non-isothermal crystallization behavior of the composites. Key thermal parameters, including, crystallization temperature, enthalpy of crystallization and glass transition temperature (Tg) were determined from the DSC thermograms. The activation energy of crystallization was evaluated using established kinetic models to gain insight into the nucleation and growth mechanisms during crystallization. The effect of fiber-matrix interaction resulting from surface modification is apparent on the thermal behavior of the composite. These findings provide important insight into the structure-property relationship of chemically modified oil palm fiber reinforced phenol-formaldehyde composites and demonstrate their potential for applications requiring thermally stable, environmentally sustainable composite materials.

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