EXPECTED RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2 coordinate of the oxygen atom. Additionally, the peak shift occurs when the A-site in the ABO 3 crystal structure was integrated with a smaller ion. Figure 1 Magnified Raman spectra with vibration changes of stretching mode v 1. The I-V characteristics of the KNN thin films recorded at room temperature are shown in Figure 2. Current increase as more yttrium dopant was introduced in KNN thin films. From the graph, it presented that the most conductive sample is 0.5 Y-KNN and the least conductive is undoped KNN. The increase in conductivity is due to more free electrons were generated by integrating Y ions which increase the carrier concentration in thin film [8]. Figure 2 I-V characteristics of KNN thin films at various dopant concentration

4. CONCLUSIONS

The KNN thin films were successfully fabricated by sol-gel method. Raman spectra indicate that the variation of peak shifting around 619 cm -1 attributed to the enhancement of binding strength dominated by dopant concentration. Meanwhile, the I-V measurements show that the thin film conductivity was high at 0.5 Y-doped KNN. Hence, the encouraging results could contribute to the incorporation of these thin films in sensor devices.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia for funding our research. FRGS12014TK04UTEM023 6. REFERENCES [1] P. K. Panda, “Review: environmental friendly lead-free piezoelectric materials,” Journal of Materials Science, vol. 44, no. 19, pp. 5049–5062, Jul. 2009. [2] S. Qian, K. Zhu, X. Pang, J. Liu, J. Qiu, and J. Du, “Phase transition , microstructure , and dielectric properties of Li Ta Sb co-doped K , Na NbO 3 lead-free ceramics,” Ceramics International, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 4389–4394, 2014. [3] X. Huang, R. Xing, C. Gao, and Z. Chen, “Influence of CeO2 doping amount on the property of BCTZ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics sintered at low temperature,” Journal of Rare Earths, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 733–737, Aug. 2014. [4] E. M. Alkoy, “Effect of Cu and Li Addition on the Electrical Properties of KNN Ceramics,” pp. 1–4, 2010. [5] C.-H. Kim, K.-J. Park, Y.-J. Yoon, M.-H. Hong, J.-O. Hong, and K.-H. Hur, “Role of yttrium and magnesium in the formation of core-shell structure of BaTiO3 grains in MLCC,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1213–1219, Jan. 2008. [6] K. Kakimoto, K. Akao, Y. Guo, and H. Ohsato, “Raman scattering study of piezoelectric Na0.5K0.5NbO 3 -LiNbO 3 Ceramics,” J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, vol. 44, pp. 7064-7067, 2005. [7] F. D. Hardcastle and I. Wachs, “Determination of niobium-oxygen bond distances and bond orders by Raman spectroscopy,” Solid State Ion., vol. 45, no. 3–4, pp. 201–213, April 1991. [8] M. H. Mamat, M. Z. Sahdan, Z. Khusaimi, A. Z. Ahmed, S. Abdullah, and M. Rusop, “Influence of doping concentrations on the aluminum doped zinc oxide thin films properties for ultraviolet photoconductive sensor applications,” Optical Materials, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 696–699, 2010. __________ © Centre for Advanced Research on Energy Effect of pineapple leaf fiber loading on the properties of pineapple leaf fiber – polypropylene composite A.N. Kasim 1,2, , M.Z. Selamat 1,2, , N. Aznan 1 , S.N. Sahadan 1,2 , M.A.M. Daud 1,2 , S. Salleh 1,2 , R. Jumaidin 1,2 1 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UniversitiTeknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia. 2 Centre for Advanced Research on Energy, UniversitiTeknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia. Corresponding e-mail: ayunatasyakasimyahoo.com, zulkeflisutem.edu.my Keywords: Pineapple Leaf Fiber PLF; Polypropylene PP; Fiber Reinforced Polymer FRP ABSTRACT – Nowadays, the natural fibers are widely used in FRP composite especially as automotive interior parts because it is much cheaper and natural availability compare to glass fiber and carbon fiber. This paper discusses the effects of pineapple leaf fiber PLF loading on the mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fiberpolypropylene PLFPP composite. An alkaline treatment was conducted to enhance the PLF properties before the formation process of PLFPP composite. The mechanical properties of PLFPP composite were determined using tensile test, hardness test, density measurement and microstructure analysis. The result of PLFPP composite with a composition of 3070 showed the best mechanical properties comparable to others composition ratios.

1. INTRODUCTION

Natural fiber is an alternative to glass fiber in FRP composite materials industry, especially in automotive application. Natural fibers composite give a combination of excellent mechanical property, dielectric property, and environmental advantages such as recyclable, biodegradable and renewability [1-2,7]. Pineapple leaf fiber is one of the most attractive materials as a strengthening natural fiber, and the mechanical properties of PLF are listed in Table 1. Mohamad et al [6], states that in Malaysia the pineapple industry is markable but only the fruit is used and other part such as leaf is thrown away, thus causing pollution and wasting the best potential sources of fiber. Furthermore, this study aims to investigate the effect of PLF loading on the properties of PLFPP composite and to explore the potential of this composite. The mechanical properties such as tensile stress, hardness, bulk density and microstructure are observed. Table 1 Properties of pineapple leaf fiber: [5] Property Value Density gcm 3 1.526 Softening Point °C 104 Tensile Strength MPa 170 Young’s Modulus MPa 6260 Specific Modulus MPa 4070 Elongation at Break 3 Moisture regain 12

2. METHODOLOGY

The materials used in the fabrication of FRP composites are PLF and PP. Figure 1 a and b shows the image of PLF and PP. Meanwhile, the composition of this composite is listed in Table 2. a b Figure 1 Photograph image: a PLF ; b PP Before the PLF can be used as filler, an alkaline treatment was done. The raw pineapple leaf was first cut into small pieces with the length of 10 cm and then rolled used roll mill machine. After that, these small pieces were then immersed in 5 concentration of the NaOH. The 1 concentration of the HCL was used to neutralize the PLF. The functions of chemical treatments are to clean all the impurities, treat the fiber surface and also to stabilize the molecular orientation [2-4]. Vinod and Sudev [3] state that by undergoing the chemical treatments the mechanical properties of the material can be improved. After the formation process by using a hot compression mold, some mechanical testing was conducted that are tensile test ASTM D 3039D 3039M-00, shore hardness test, density measurement and microstructure analysis. Table 2 Composition of PLFPP composite PLF PP 70 30 60 40 50 50 40 60 30 70

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 2 shows the graph of tensile stress versus composition of PLFPP composites. The graph shows that the tensile stress, increased with the decrease of PLF contents. The reason for this distinct value is because at the composition of PLFPP 3070, a higher value of PP has resulted a high plasticity behavior due to the thermoplastic type of polymer. Meanwhile the