Effect of Biodegradable Adhesive on Bleached Agave Americana Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Abstract

The environment can be best conserved through the effective utilization of the naturally available renewable-based materials like plant fibres whose cells were surrounded by the rigid cell wall. The mechanical performance of the composites can be enhanced through different methods of fibre treatment like physical and chemical means. So, in this work, the author had taken efforts in treating the agave Americana fibres with sodium hypochlorite and this bleaching process makes the fibres impurities free and better adhesion with the matrix. A biodegradable adhesive i.e. white dextrin was coated over the reinforcements i.e. agave Americana, bleached agave Americana manually. Ambient dried, uncoated, coated fibres were dried in an oven for the removal of moisture in the reinforcements completely. These fibres were reinforced into aerospace epoxy resin for the fabrication of the composites as per ASTM D 790-03 and ASTM D 6110-08 standards for flexural and impact specimens respectively. Load-elongation/deflection curves describe the role of white dextrin on the flexural performance of the composites. Based on the properties determined, comparisons made from the flexural and impact tests the impact of different types of reinforcements was understood. Based on the experimental results, it was noticed that there is a clear role of white dextrin in the enhancement of the flexural strength, modulus. Further, bleaching chemical treatment of the agave Americana fibres enhanced the bonding of the white dextrin to them and more performance under three-point bending was achieved. However, the impact performance of the uncoated composites was superior to other types experimentally studied in this work.