Study of the interface in natural fibres reinforced poly(lactic acid) biocomposites modified by optimized organosilane treatments

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of optimized organosilane treatments on the surface properties of flax fibres and the resulting mechanical properties and interface modifications in flax fibres reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) biocomposites. Optimizing the treatment conditions increases the hydrophobicity of the fibres, and improves significantly the mechanical properties of the biocomposites, while reducing largely the scattering. The origins of the reinforcement at the fibre/matrix interface are investigated at the macromolecular and the microstructural levels by physico-chemical and mechanical cross-analyses. It is shown that it results from both modified chemical coupling and mechanical interlocking at the fibre/matrix interface. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis reveals a decrease in damping for treated biocomposites because of the formation of a layer of immobilized macromolecular chains resulting from strong interactions at the interface. In situ observations of crack propagation by scanning elec-tron microscopy illustrate clearly that the treated biocomposites show a cohesive interfacial failure at much higher loads, highlighting the enhanced load transfer from the PLA to the flax fibres.

Effect of silanecoupling agent on properties of biocomposites based on poly(lactic acid)and durian rind cellulose

“…The biocomposites reinforced with 35 wt.% treated cellulose exhibited an increase of tensile strength to 55.37 MPa, or 5.63%, compared with neat PLA, which indicated that the treatment led to a better load transfer and homogenization of biocomposites microstructure, providing for better continuity and a stronger interface between the matrix and filler. The similar results in PLA/flax composites were found by Le Moigne et al [33]. Modulus of Young for PLA is 3.61 GPa.…”

“…The amine groups were found in the APS-treated cellulose at the peak of 1562cm -1 due to hydroxyl groups of both silanol and cellulose being bonded with these amine groups from APS [12,19,31]. After cellulose was modified with APS, the highest peak at 1030 cm -1 was observed which indicated the Si-O-Si or Si-O-cellulose was investigated [32].These linkages are generally present in the 1200-1000cm -1 region [6,12,19,33]. The peak showed more apparent because of the Si-O-Si bond lapped with the C-O stretching from cellulose structure [17].…”

Mechanical and Water Intake Properties of Banana-Carbon Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

“…Over the past two decades, plant fibers have been receiving considerable attention as substitutes for synthetic fiber reinforcements. Unlike the traditional synthetic fibers like glass and carbon the plant fibers are able to impart certain benefits to the composites such as low density, high stiffness, low cost, renewability, biodegradability, environmentallyfriendly and high degree of flexibility during processing [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] . The properties of the natural fiber composites are strongly dependent on the fiber properties as well as on the structural parameters such as fiber diameter, length, distribution, orientation, volume fraction of the fibers and layering arrangement in composites.…”

Hydrophobic surface functionalization of lignocellulosic jute fabrics by enzymatic grafting of octadecylamine

“…Traditionally, graft polymerization [9,10] and coupling [11,12] have been used as two common approaches for the surface hydrophobization of natural lignocellulosic fibers. However, these chemical methods have some inherent shortcomings.…”