Mechanical characterization of alkali treated Sansevieria cylindrica fibers–Natural rubber composites

Abstract

In the present investigation, Sansevieria cylindrica fibers impregnated natural rubber composite was prepared and studied for the different mechanical characteristics. The composites were fabricated by introducing 17% fibers in the natural rubber (20:100 ratio). The investigation was accompanied for the three different scenario namely with the plain natural rubber (NR), natural rubber with the raw Sansevieria cylindrica fibers (RSC), and natural rubber with the alkali treated Sansevieria cylindrica fibers (TSC). The tensile behavior, tear characteristics and Shore A hardness were analyzed for the aforementioned three variety of composites and the results were critically analyzed. The introduction of Sansevieria cylindrica fibers into the natural rubber enhanced the mechanical characteristics of the natural rubber, significantly and in particular the composite with treated fibers provided a much higher tensile property. It was attributed to the enhanced regularity of the fiber cells, in which the Sansevieria cylindrica fibers are arranged hierarchically, which provide good adhesion to the rubber matrix. It was evidenced that the augmentation in tensile value, tear value, and Shore A hardness was observed as 10.5%, 6.25%, and 6.10%, respectively for composite with the alkali treated Sansevieria cylindrica fibers compared to the raw Sansevieria cylindrica fibers.