Sodium carbonate treatment of fibres to improve mechanical and water absorption characteristics of short bamboo natural fibres reinforced polyester composite. (25th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abdul Karim, Muhammad Ramzan; Tahir, Danish; Hussain, Azhar; Ul Haq, Ehsan; Khan, Khurram Imran
• Is Part Of: Plastics, rubber, and composites. Volume 49:Number 10(2020)
• Page Start: 425
• Page End: 433
• Publication Date: 2020-11-25
• Subjects: Surface modification -- bamboo natural fibres -- polyester matrix -- mechanical properties -- thermo-gravimetric analysis; Plastics -- Periodicals; Rubber -- Periodicals; Polymeric composites -- Periodicals; Polymer engineering -- Periodicals; 668.9
• DOI: 10.1080/14658011.2020.1768336
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1465-8011

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The effect of sodium carbonate (Na2 CO3 ) treatment of short bamboo fibres on mechanical properties and water absorption character of polyester composite is investigated. Treatment time and Na2 CO3 concentration were optimised to 6 h and 5 wt-% respectively. Microscopy of the treated fibres showed a significant change in surface texture whereas; FTIR suggested the removal of amorphous compounds from the fibres that resulted in enhanced interfacial bonding between fibres and the polyester matrix. Removal of amorphous compounds was also confirmed by TGA where material loss for untreated fibres was 15% higher than the treated fibres. Composites were prepared using 10, 20 and 30 wt-% of treated and untreated fibres. Good interfacial bonding, achieved by the fibre treatment, enhanced the strength (∼24 MPa), ( decreased the impact energy (from ∼36×10 −3 KJ/m 2 to ∼33×10 −3 KJ/m 2 ) and improved the water absorption resistance (∼2%) in case of 20 wt-% fibres composite.