Cellulose fibers are attracting considerable attention within the transportation industry as a class of reinforcing agents for polymer composites owing to their low cost, low density, high mechanical properties, and considerable environmental benefits. The objective of this study was to develop hybrid composites combining cellulose fiber with long glass fiber (LGF), short glass fiber (SGF), or talc in a polypropylene (PP) matrix to optimize the overall composite properties. Tensile, flexural, and notched Izod impact tests revealed that in general the mechanical properties decreased with increasing cellulose content, however, adding an optimum concentration of the cellulose fiber is a promising alternative to reduce or replace the utilization of inorganic fibers. Hybrid composites with 15 wt% LGF and 15 wt% Cellulose A exhibited an increase of 86% and 252% in tensile stress and Young's modulus, respectively, compared to neat PP X. Regarding the impact strength and the temperature at the maximum rate of decomposition, hybrid composites with 15 wt% SGF and 15 wt% Cellulose B exhibited 23% and 17% increase, respectively, compared to neat PP Z. The crystallization temperature (Tc) of all the composites increased compared to neat PP, revealing the fibers ability to act as nucleating agents and speed rate of part production which will result in lowering the manufacturing cost. For applications in automotive “under‐the‐hood” and body interior components, the hybrid cellulose‐inorganic reinforcement composite approach not only leads to superior weight and cost savings, but also environment benefits over the inorganic reinforced composites.
Bamboo fibers (BFs) have high mechanical properties and are candidate reinforcement for epoxy matrix composites. However, to improve performance, good fiber‐matrix interaction is required. In this work, unidirectional long BF reinforced epoxy composites at fiber volume content of 22%, 40%, and 50% were made by compression molding. The 40 v% untreated BF reinforced composites exhibited 107% and 439% increase for flexural strength and modulus, respectively, compared to neat epoxy. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment was used to modify the surface of the BFs, and then the NaOH modified BFs were coated with graphene oxide (GO). The 40 v% NaOH modified BF composites showed an improvement from 259.9 to 327.5 MPa for flexural strength and from 16.7 to 21.5 GPa for flexural modulus, compared to 40 v% untreated BF composites. Slight improvement in properties up to 334.6 MPa for flexural strength and up to 23.8 GPa for flexural modulus was achieved for composites made of 40 v% NaOH/GO modified BF. Surface modification of BF after the NaOH and NaOH/GO treatment was confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by scanning electron microscopy, which showed differences on the fiber surface morphology and on the composite fracture surface. This BF surface modification approach with GO has potential to impart other properties beyond mechanical to produce multifunctional composite and lead to the use of sustainable plant fibers as alternatives to synthetic fibers.
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