Evaluation of thermal properties and water intake behavior of vinylester based hybrid green-composites

Abstract

There is an inflated usage of eco-friendly materials in the various engineering application because of their significant advantages over synthetic fibers. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the thermal behavior of hybrid green composites using Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). The banana and jute fibers are used as reinforcements and they are five percent NaOH treated to remove the impurities from the fiber surface. Four natural fiber laminates were prepared in varied stacking pattern using vacuum infusion method. The prepared laminates were induced for shore-D hardness and water absorption tests as per ASTM standards. The experimental results revealed that banana fiber sample showed good thermal stability as compared to remaining prepared hybrid green fiber composites. The NaOH treatment on jute fibers enhanced the bonding with vinylester matrix and provides higher hardness value and least water intake value compared to other samples. The morphological analysis on the dispersion of green fibers with matrix was studied using Scanning electron microscope.