George Nicole A. Balmaceda, Marianne T. del Rosario, Riza Grace G. Lee (March 2014)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
Bagasse is the cane residue leaving mills after extraction of juice from the sugarcane. By-products of the sugar industry like bagasse could be used to produce a multitude of value-added non-food products, ranging from fibers and composites to films and resins. Creation of composite sheets helps increase the profitability of bagasse. Determining compressive strengths of different fiber types infused with low density polyethylene may help improve the quality of bagasse composite sheets. Bagasse fibers were treated with sulfuric acid to delignify the fibers and oven-dried. Percent yield of bagasse after treatment with dilute sulfuric acid is 12.67%. These dried fibers were mixed with low density polyethylene through thermal pressing for production of composite sheets. These sheets were analyzed through a compression test using a Universal Testing Machine. Compression test results had shown that composite sheets made of coarse bagasse fibers infused with low density polyethylene have the greatest maximum breaking load. The high maximum breaking load of bagasse composite sheets infused with low density polyethylene makes coarse fibers the most suitable fiber type for the production of composite sheets.