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In this paper, natural rubber (NR) was mixed with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and kenaf as fillerreinforcement for the polymer composite. Mixing the material using the internal mixer and hot press machine was able toblend the material homogeneously. Investigation of the new polymer composite characterisation was carried out by thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA), along with tensile, flexural and impact tests. The TGA for the polymer composite achieved322⁰C before degradation and increase in tensile and impact strength with the increase of TPU in the polymer compositematrices were observed. The result indicated an improvement in tensile, flexural and impact strength for the kenaf filledTPU-NR composites. The mixing of kenaf fibre and TPU-NR polymer showed degradation that was gradually diminishingturned into ashes. TGA result showed all compositions of kenaf filled TPU-NR composites samples shared the same peaktemperature, being degraded at 600⁰C.

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Mechanical properties of kenaf fibre thermoplastic polyurethane-natural rubber composites ABSTRCT Thermoplastic polyurethane-natural rubber TPUR-NR composites filled with treated and untreated kenaf fiber as filler were prepared at different TPUR and NR contents. The content of kenaf fiber was maintained at 12.5 wt % and the fiber was treated with 6 % solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), then dried for 24 hours in 100 °C, hot blended with polymer components, pulverized and pressed. The mechanical properties of the composites such as tensile, flexural and impact strength were determined, and their dependence on NaOH treatment of kenaf fibers was investigated. The analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM) was implemented to identify the effect of alkali treatment on the microstructure of kenaf fiber and TPUR-NR composites. An improvement of fiber surface roughness and bonding between the fiber and polymer as well as an increase in impact energy and elongation at break of the composites was observed.

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