Abstract
Green composites were needed by automotive industries because they are environmentally friendly, recyclable, lightweight and strong. Natural fibers such as bamboo and sisal are potential source of these materials and can be used as substitutes of fiber glass which is hard to recycle and not renewable. In this experiment, bio-composites made from micro fibers of betung bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) and sisal (Agave sisalana) mixed with a natural polymer of polylactic acid (PLA) were developed that may used for automotive application. Bamboo or sisal fibers were converted into pulp and processed using a disc refiner to produce microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) with fiber diameter around 10 µm. MFC was mixed with PLA and triacetin and dried. The mixture was processed in a mixer at temperature of 170ºC, speed of 60 rpm for 20 min. The compound mixture was removed and processed into pellets using a pelletizer at 170ºC. Pellets were processed using injection molding machine. The compositions of fibers/PLA were 10/90, 20/80, and 30/70. The mechanical properties were tested in accordance with ASTM standards. Result shown that optimum composition ratio of bamboo fibers/PLA was 20/80 which gave flexural strength of 62.30 MPa, flexural modulus of 3.89 GPa, tensile strength of 44.55 MPa, tensile modulus of 1.20 GPa, and hardness of 112.90 R. While the optimum composition ratio of sisal fibers/PLA was 30/70 which gave flexural strength of 67.83 MPa, flexural modulus of 4.43 GPa, tensile strength of 48.18 MPa, tensile modulus of 1.13 GPa, and hardness of 110.50 R.
Highlights
Green composites made from natural polymer reinforced with natural fibers has been subjected to many studies
The purpose of this research is to develop injection molded materials from natural fibers of sisal, bamboo and green polymer of polylactic acid that may used for automotive application
Microfibrillated Cellulose of Sisal and Bamboo Fibers in natural fibers usually formed in bundles
Summary
Green composites made from natural polymer reinforced with natural fibers has been subjected to many studies. The European Union End of Life of Vehicles (ELV) program requires that in the year of 2015 all new cars should have 95% recyclable materials (Marsh 2003) This means composites reinforced with natural fibers will play important role and might be a revolutionary material of this century (Marsh 2003). Biocomposite from natural fibers and polymer matrix for automotive materials have been studied intensively (Leao et al 1998; Mohanty et al 2002; Wambua et al 2003, Misra et al 2004, Suddell and Evans 2005, Bledzki et al 2006). Research on composite from raw fibers of sisal and bamboo have been done (Li et al 2000; Mohanty et al 2004a; Mohanty et al 2004b; Okubo et al 2004; Shibata et al 2008; Okubo et al 2009; Huang et al 2009)
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