JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #138 - January/February 2021 - 53

Egyptian consortium develops first textile palm fibres and reinforcements

renewable bioresources and it does not cause
deforestation or compete with food production. It is 100% biodegradable and compostable and has a specific tensile strength five
times higher than structural steel, and equal
to those of flax, hemp and sisal. Its vibration
damping and acoustical insulation are higher
than those of glass and carbon, with higher
thermal insulation properties than carbon.
Moreover, it can be easily blended with other
long fibres such as flax, sisal, and abaca, or it
could be chopped and blended with hemp,
kenaf, and jute.

Fig. 2: Textile fibres and reinforcements from by-products of date palm pruning (Source: PalmFil)

Fig. 3: PalmFil's contribution to the circular
bioeconomy (Source:
PalmFil)

Culturally embedded in the Middle East
Date palm by-products have been used for
centuries in the Middle East and are a heritage-related material that is culturally embedded in these countries but possibly forgotten
in modern times. Recent R&D conducted by
the consortium demonstrates the potential of
date palm fibre; its use in the modern context
and in industrial settings.
The revival of the fibre sector in the Middle
East will need dedication and national commitment.
The use of date palm fibre is not the issue.
The use of most natural materials such as
date palm fibre contributes to maintaining
biodiversity, provides employment and
income and enables sustainable development
in general. However, the key to its revival will

be the national will and support to encourage
the development of a reliable supply chain that
can service the various production sectors that
could use the fibre.
A five-year marathon
It has been a long, five-year marathon of
self-supported research, relying completely
on the consortium's personal funding and
driven by a strong belief in the impact of such
innovation on the sustainable development
of rural communities and their livelihoods.
The researchers wanted to rediscover this underutilized resource, and prove to the whole
world that they could economically extract
textile fibres from it, without abiding to the
agenda of any funding institution.
The new date palm fibre is obtained from
N°138 January - February 2021

Date palm fibre
composites in automotive
The consortium conducted a comprehensive
research to optimize the extraction process
and made a thorough characterization of
the new fibre. The research results were very
well received by the scientific community
and featured in research and review articles
in some of the most prestigious scientific
journals in the field, such as Industrial Crops
and Products (Elsevier) and Cellulose
(Springer). The new fibre was also well
accepted by the industrial community in
Egypt, and it has been processed on a full-industrial-scale spinning line at the Egyptian
Industrial Center of Flax. The researchers
are currently establishing connections with
the leading automotive manufacturers in
Europe, and they are conducting a dedicated
research on date palm fibre composites in
automotive. PalmFil technology contributes
to the circular bioeconomy following a
closed-loop cycle from cradle to cradle as
shown in Figure 3. Moreover, the extraction
technology could be applied to by-products
of other palm species such as oil palm, sugar
palm, doum palm as well as other agricultural
by-products such as broomcorn.
The consortium has more than 50 years of
combined experience in fibre science, textile
technology and composite engineering
and is currently seeking partnership to
further develop, scale-up, and commercialize
PalmFil technology. They recently launched
a website to commercially announce the
innovation, and prepared a detailed development and business plan for organizations that
are interest in investing in such innovation.
More information:
www.palmfil.com

/ jec composites magazine

http://www.palmfil.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #138 - January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #138 - January/February 2021