2022 chapter

Comparison of coconut coir and date palm coir (sheath fiber) and their composites

In Coir Fiber and its Composites.

Contributors: M. Midani*, L. Elseify*, T. Hamouda* & A. Hassanin*

Source: ORCID
Added: October 2, 2022

Date palm is the main element of flora in the Arab region and its coir was historically regarded as an important byproduct of palm cultivation and it was used in every aspect of living since ancient Egypt. Date palm coir is the fibrous sheath layer surrounding the date palm trunk, which can be separated from the trunk during the annual pruning. However, there has been a declining interest in such resource, and it has lost ground to modern synthetic fibers. Nowadays, the use of date palm coir is limited to cultural and traditional crafts, with no significant industrial application. Despite that its annual production could reach 234 thousand tons, which is almost 20% of the annual production of coconut coir. This chapter discusses the industrial potential of date palm coir fiber as a reinforcement for polymer composites and compares it to commercial coconut coir fiber. Important fiber properties such as, physical, morphological, chemical, thermal and mechanical are compared. Moreover, performance of polymer composites reinforced with both date palm coir and coconut coir fibers are also discussed, including composites with different matrix systems, fiber fraction and length. The results of the comparative study reveal that date palm coir has very similar characteristics to coconut coir fiber. Yet, in order to be industrialized similar to coconut coir, much attention is needed from government associations and developmental organizations to develop its value chain.