Continuous Natural Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites by Fiber Surface Modification

Abstract

Continuous natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic materials are expected to replace inorganic fiber reinforced thermosetting materials. However, in the process of fabricating the composite, it is difficult to impregnate the thermoplastic resin into reinforcement fiber because of the high melt viscosity. Therefore, intermediate material, which allows high impregnation during molding, has been investigated for fabricating continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite by aligning resin fiber alongside reinforcing fiber with braiding technique. This intermediate material has been called "microbraid yarn (MBY.)" Moreover, it is well known that the interfacial properties between natural fiber and resin are low; therefore, surface treatment on continuous natural fiber was performed by using polyurethane (PU) and flexible epoxy (FLEX) to improve the interfacial properties. The effect of surface treatment on the mechanical properties of continuous natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites was examined. From these results, it was suggested that surface treatment by PU with low content could produce composites with better mechanical properties.

A Review on Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite and Its Applications

“…The different surface treatments of advanced composites applications were reviewed by several researchers [40][41][42]. The effects of different chemical treatments on cellulosic fibers that were employed as reinforcements for thermoplastics and thermoset were also examined.…”

A Review: Natural Fiber Composites Selection in View of Mechanical, Light Weight, and Economic Properties

“…Alkali solution not only affects cellulosic components inside the plant fiber but also affect the non‐cellulosic components such as hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin. Hemicellulose is the most hydrophilic part of natural fiber structures so alkali treatment with NaOH, reduces the ability of the fibers to absorb moisture . The chemical reaction formula, which taking place during this treatment is shown below …”

XPS and FTIR Studies of DC Reactive Magnetron Sputtered TiO2 Thin Films on Natural Based-Cellulose Fibers

“…From a chemical point of view, natural cellulose is a molecule of potentially reactive functional groups due to the abundant hydroxyls (-OH) groups and other oxygen-containing functional groups -C=O, -C-O-C-, -CHO, and -COOH on the fiber surface [10,11]. While the surface reactivity of pure manmade cellulosic fibers is mainly determined by their reactive hydroxyls groups, the NBCF exhibit a wide variety of functional groups at their surface that can bond to additional functional atoms or molecules and thus provide new properties and new applications for NBCF [12,13].…”