Elaboration and Study of the Properties of a Polyester Composite Made of Oleaster Fibers Treated and Untreated

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, we have harvested natural oleaster (wild olive) fibers, processed and characterized in terms of physicochemical performance as well as mechanical properties. The main constituents of oleaster fibers with their weight proportions are cellulose (38.11%), lignin (19.4%), and ash (3.1%). The specific density of the oleaster fiber is measured to (1.40256 g cm−3). The average elastic modulus, tensile strength, and elongation at the break of composites made from polymer resin and oleaster fibers (untreated and treated with 20% acetic anhydride) have undergone an improvement in mechanical properties, respectively, an elastic modulus of 8.39 MPa for a deformation of 0.48334% against for the treated composite with the deformation of 3.95%for an elastic modulus of 55.53 MPa. Their Young moduli are 41.029 GPa for the untreated fiber composite and 93.19 GPa for the acetic anhydride treated fiber composite, respectively. We have also studied the effects of acetic anhydride treatment on the mechanical properties and structure of the fibers. When treated with 20% acetic anhydride for 2 h, the tensile strength of oleaster fibers had increased significantly. A longer treatment time did not show any appreciable improvement. However, the tensile strength remained higher than the tensile strength for untreated fibers.