Structural, Mechanical and Morphological Analysis of Treated Sisal Fibers and Cellulose Extracted from Sisal and it effect on Improving the Plaster-based Composites Mechanical Properties

Abstract

In the context of attempts to protect the environment and the ongoing exhaustion of fossil resources, using biomass raises significant environmental concerns. From this approach, sisal fibers and the cellulose extracted from them are used as bio-reinforcement in the production of composite materials. The first part of this paper will examine the effects of sodium hydroxide treatment on the mechanical characteristics of natural sisal fibers. Then, the morphological properties of the surface of the fibers were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction was performed on the treated and untreated fibers. The results showed that the cellulose and the treated fibers had a greater crystallinity index than the untreated fibers. The results of the FTIR spectroscopic examination were strongly congruent with the results of the XRD and SEM analyses. The ATG, which was performed on both natural sisal fibers, treated sisal fibers, and cellulose fibers, also showed that treatment of the fibers increased their thermal resistance and stability. According to research on composite materials made of plaster reinforced by fibers, increasing the sisal treated fibers content in plaster molasses to 1.25% led to a greater improvement in the mechanical and physical characteristics with a rise of 35% in resistance to bending. Additionally, when applying the cellulose fibers extracted from sisal as a reinforcement to the plaster-based composite material, we obtain an incensement in the resistance bending by 48%.