Preparation and properties of successive alkali treated completely biodegradable short jute fiber reinforced PLA composites

Abstract

The natural fiber reinforced biodegradable polymer composites were prepared with short jute fiber as reinforcement in PLA (Poly lactic acid) matrix. The short jute fiber is successively treated with NaOH at various concentrations (5%, 10%, and 15%) and H 2 O 2 . The composites were prepared with untreated and treated short jute fibers at different weight proportions (up to 25%) in PLA and investigated for mechanical properties. The results showed that the composite with successive alkali treated jute fiber at 10% NaOH and H 2 O 2 with 20% fiber loading has shown 18% higher flexural strength than neat PLA and untreated jute/PLA composite. The flexural modulus of the composite at 25% fiber loading was 125% and 110% higher than that of composites with untreated fibers and neat PLA, respectively. The impact strength of composite with untreated fibers at higher fiber weight fraction was 23% high as compared to neat PLA and 26% high compared to composite with treated fibers. The water absorption was more for untreated jute/PLA composite at 25% fiber loading than all other composites. The composite with untreated fibers has high thermal degradation compared with treated fibers but lower than that of pure PLA matrix. The enzymatic environment has increased the rate of degradation of composites as compared to soil burial. Surface morphology of biodegraded surfaces of the composites were studied using SEM method. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:2160-2170, 2016

Preparation and Characterization of Durian Husk Fiber Filled Polylactic Acid Biocomposites

“…For this reason, the tensile modulus of PLA/DHF biocomposite increases due to addition of DHF. Moreover, Gunti et al [17] also agreed that the modulus of biocomposite is highly depending on the amount of filler. Hence, the biocomposite with higher fiber content showed higher tensile modulus.…”

Micro- and Macromechanical Properties of a Composite with a Ternary PLA–PCL–TPS Matrix Reinforced with Short Fique Fibers

“…The authors found that the incorporation of fibers treated by 5% alkalization did not produce a significant increase in strength; in turn, the highest increase in strength of the material reinforced with 25% jute fibers occurred with the incorporation containing 10% of fibers treated with NaOH. However, this modification corresponded to rises of only 7.7% and 8.0% in tensile and flexural strengths, respectively [26,27]. Figure 8 shows SEM images including fiber fragments that evidence breaking, suggesting an efficient load transfer from the matrix to the reinforcement in comparison with the transfer to untreated fibers, as shown in Figure 7.…”

Mechanical and water absorption behaviors of corn stalk/sisal fiber‐reinforced hybrid composites

“…Sisal fiber (SF), with a range of advantages such as low cost, low density, high specific strength and specific modulus, no health risk, has been a promising reinforcement for use in WPCs . Xie et al .…”