Abstract
Natural fiber composites are attracting significant interest due to their potential for replacing synthetic composites at lower cost with improved environmental sustainability. However, natural fiber composites suffer from poor mechanical and interfacial properties. Here, we report coating of graphene oxide (GO) and graphene flakes (G) onto natural jute fibers to improve mechanical and interfacial properties. The coating of graphene materials onto jute fibers enhanced interfacial shear strength by ∼236% and tensile strength by ∼96% more than untreated fibers by forming either bonding (GO) or mechanical interlocking (G) between fibers and graphene-based flakes. This could lead to manufacturing of high-performance and environmental friendly natural fiber composites that can potentially replace synthetic composites in numerous applications, such as the automotive industry, naval vessels, household products, and even in the aerospace industry.
Highlights
Natural fibers are becoming increasingly attractive to composite manufacturers and material scientists due to their lower environmental impact, such as less carbon emission and fossil fuel consumption, biodegradability, lower cost, lower density, and ease of fabrication.[1]
The diameter of graphene oxide (GO)-coated fibers increases with the increase of GO concentration, shown in TGA analysis of untreated and graphene material-coated samples show that the thermal stability of jute fibers reduces after heat and alkali treatment, due to the removal of hemicellulose and lignin, shown in Figure 1e
We report grafting of graphene oxides and graphene flakes onto jute fibers to produce high-performance graphene-based natural fiber composites
Summary
Natural fibers are becoming increasingly attractive to composite manufacturers and material scientists due to their lower environmental impact, such as less carbon emission and fossil fuel consumption, biodegradability, lower cost, lower density, and ease of fabrication.[1]. TGA analysis of untreated and graphene material-coated samples show that the thermal stability of jute fibers reduces after heat and alkali treatment, due to the removal of hemicellulose and lignin, shown in Figure 1e (and Table S3, Supporting Information). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of untreated and graphene material-treated jute fiber provides further evidence of the removal of hemicellulose after alkali treatment and the coating with GO and G flakes (Figure S3a,b, Supporting Information). We compare diameter versus tensile properties of untreated and treated jute fibers (Figure S4, Supporting Information) It shows that the increase of diameter has an effect on both Young’s modulus and tensile strength of jute fiber. Jute fiber treated by GO and graphene flakes in our study shows a fairly large increment in the both Young’s modulus (∼73.33% for G flakes) and tensile strength (∼95.9% for the GO-treated jute fibers) than the untreated fiber
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
