Flax fibers can be used as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional reinforcing fibers (e.g., glass) in composites. The interest in natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites is growing rapidly due to its high performance in terms of mechanical properties, significant processing advantages, excellent chemical resistance, low cost and low density. These advantages place natural fiber composites among the high performance composites having economic and environmental advantages. In the field of technical utilization of plant fibers, flax fiber-reinforced composites represent one of the most important areas. On the other hand, lack of good interfacial adhesion and poor resistance to moisture absorption make the use of natural fiber-reinforced composites less attractive. In order to improve their interfacial properties, fibers were subjected to chemical treatments, namely, mercerization, silane treatment, benzoylation, and peroxide treatment. Selective removal of non-cellulosic compounds constitutes the main objective of the chemical treatments of flax fibers to improve the performance of fiber-reinforced composites. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of pre-treated flax fibers on the performance of the fiber-reinforced composites.Short flax fibers were derived from Saskatchewan-grown flax straws, for use in fiberreinforced composites. Composites consisting of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) or HDPE/LLDPE mix, chemically treated fibers and additives were prepared by the extrusion process. Extrusion is expected to improve the interfacial adhesion significantly as opposed to simple mixing of the two iii components. The extruded strands were then pelletized and ground. The test samples were prepared by rotational molding. The fiber surface topology and the tensile fracture surfaces of the composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy to determine whether the modified fiber-matrix interface had improved interfacial bonding.Mechanical and physical properties of the composites were evaluated. The differential scanning calorimetry technique was also used to measure the melting point of flax fiber and composite.Overall, the scanning electron microscopy photographs of fiber surface characteristics and fracture surfaces of composites clearly indicated the extent of fiber-matrix interface adhesion. Chemically treated fiber-reinforced composites showed better fiber-matrix interaction as observed from the good dispersion of fibers in the matrix system. Special thanks to my graduate committee Charles Maulé, the chair, for providing a motivating and enthusiastic environment during the many discussions and his helpful feedback and suggestions. The critique of this thesis by Dr. Chris Zhang, external examiner, is acknowledged.
The aim of this article is to study the influence of physical treatment on morphology, wettability, fine structure of fibers and its impact on the interfacial adhesion of natural fiber-reinforced thermosets. For that purpose, jute fibers were treated with argon cold plasma for 5, 10, and 15 min and processed for composite with unsaturated polyester resin. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrograph had shown the rough surface morphology and degradation of fiber due to etching mechanism causes by plasma. Surface properties of fibers before and after treatment were determined by mean of contact angle determination and fine structural details by Fourier transform infrared-spectroscopy (FT-IR). Plasma treatment resulted in the development of hydrophobicity in fibers, that is contact angle were found increasing with water. This could be due to the decrease in phenolic and secondary alcoholic groups or oxidation of basic structural component, lignin and hemicelluloses after plasma treatment as studied by FTIR. Rough surface morphology and development of hydrophobicity of fiber after plasma treatment resulted in the better fiber/matrix adhesion as revealed from SEM micrograph of plasma treated fiber composite. However, among all treated fiber composite, flexural strength of composite prepared with 10 min plasma treated fiber only had shown improve mechanical strength of ~14% in compare to raw fiber composite.
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Bioresources comprised of over 220 billion oven-dry tonnes (about 4500 EJ) of annual production
are potentially the world's largest sustainable source of energy. At present, technologies exist to
pyrolyze biomass to produce a liquid product, namely, biomass-derived oil. This biomass-derived
oil has found a variety of applications. In this investigation, biomass-derived oil (BDO) is gasified
to synthesis gas and gaseous fuels. The gasification reaction of BDO was carried out at 800 °C
under atmospheric pressure in an Inconell tubular fixed-bed down-flow microreactor using
mixtures of CO2 and N2, and H2 and N2. Also, steam gasification was performed by feeding
biomass-derived oil at a flow rate of 5 g/h along with steam (2.5−10 g/h) and nitrogen (30 mL/min) as a carrier gas. The gas product essentially consisted of H2, CO, CO2, CH4, C2, C3, and C4+
components. Composition of various gas components ranged as syngas (H2 + CO) from 75 to 80
mol % including 48−52 mol % H2, and CH4 from 12 to 18 mol %. Heating values of the product
gas ranged between 460 and 510 Btu/Scf. The present study shows that there is a strong potential
of making syngas, hydrogen, and medium-heating-value Btu gas from the steam gasification of
biomass-derived oil.
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