Abstract
This paper presents a novel approach to toughen the otherwise brittle unsaturated polyester resin (USP) in the polymer matrix biofiber composites. In contrast to the conventional method of incorporating the toughening agent in the matrix resin, the method used in the present investigation consisted in treating the biofiber (OPF) with the toughening resin before impregnating with USP resin. Accordingly biofiber was first impregnated with toughening resin, acrylonitrile-butadienne-styrene (ABS) to produce a pre-preg. The pre-preg was then impregnated with USP resin containing free radical initiator. The ABS content in the biofiber pre-preg was varied from 5 to 25%. Unsaturated polyester was reinforced with the pre-preg and cured in presence of MEKP to produce “hybrid composite”. The physical and mechanical properties of the composites were determined.
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