Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Carbohydr Polym. 2013 Jan 16;91(2):699-710. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2012.07.073. Epub 2012 Aug 3.
Sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) is a multipurpose palm species from which a variety of foods and beverages, timber commodities, biofibres, biopolymers and biocomposites can be produced. Recently, it is being used as a source of renewable energy in the form of bio-ethanol via fermentation process of the sugar palm sap. Although numerous products can be produced from sugar palm, three products that are most prominent are palm sugar, fruits and fibres. This paper focuses mainly on the significance of fibres as they are highly durable, resistant to sea water and because they are available naturally in the form of woven fibre they are easy to process. Besides the recent advances in the research of sugar palm fibres and their composites, this paper also addresses the development of new biodegradable polymer derived from sugar palm starch, and presents reviews on fibre surface treatment, product development, and challenges and efforts on properties enhancement of sugar palm fibre composites.
糖棕（Arenga pinnata）是一种多用途的棕榈物种，可以从中生产各种食品和饮料、木材商品、生物纤维、生物聚合物和生物复合材料。最近，它被用作可再生能源的来源，以生物乙醇的形式通过糖棕汁的发酵过程。虽然糖棕可以生产出许多产品，但其中三种最突出的产品是棕榈糖、果实和纤维。本文主要关注纤维的重要性，因为它们具有高度的耐久性，耐海水，而且由于它们以编织纤维的形式自然存在，因此易于加工。除了糖棕纤维及其复合材料研究的最新进展外，本文还介绍了由糖棕淀粉衍生的新型可生物降解聚合物的开发，并对纤维表面处理、产品开发以及糖棕纤维复合材料性能增强的挑战和努力进行了综述。
