Abstract
This paper reports the effect of alkali treatment on the mechanical properties of the natural fibre “isora” as reinforcement in unsaturated polyester resin. Isora fibre is separated from the bark of Helicteres isora plant by retting process. Properties like tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength have been studied as a function of duration of alkali treatment and concentration of alkali. Alkalization of the fibre improves the mechanical properties of the composite. Tensile and flexural properties of the composite were found to be maximum and impact strength minimum, for an alkali treatment time of 4 hours. The mechanical properties were found to be optimum for an alkali concentration of 1%. The effects of alkali treatment on the fibre properties were investigated by SEM and IR. SEM studies were carried out to investigate the fibre surface morphology, fibre pull-out and fibre-polyester interface bonding. SEM gave evidence for the changes occurred on the fibre surface during chemical treatment.
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