Mechanical, thermo-mechanical and biodegradation behaviors of green-composites prepared from woven structural nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) reinforcement and poly(lactic acid) fibers

Abstract

A driving force for rising demand in green composites is a growing necessity of cleaner environment. The green composites are increasingly being assessed for their efficacies as a structural material for a myriad of industrial applications. In the current work, a series of biocomposites was developed by using nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) woven fabric and poly(lactic acid) fibers in different mass fractions and employing compression molding technology. Thus prepared biocomposites were evaluated for their physical, mechanical, thermal, and biodegradation properties. The biocomposite prepared with equal mass fractions of nettle and poly(lactic) acid displayed the highest mechanical properties - tensile strength (39.87 MPa), Young’s modulus (4.37 GPa), flexural strength (50.96 MPa) and impact strength (35.95 kJ/m2). This biocomposite was found to be quite light-weight with a density of 1155 kg/m3. It exhibited excellent thermal stability with almost no weight loss till 309 °C and 98.57 % weight loss at 795 °C. It showed remarkable dynamic mechanical behavior with highest storage modulus (3.9 MPa), highest loss modulus (0.2 GPa), and lowest damping factor (0.04). It displayed excellent biodegradability with 10.57 % weight loss and 37.42 % strength loss just after 20 days of burial in soil. Overall, the biocomposite prepared from equal weight of nettle reinforcement and poly (lactic acid) matrix was very promising for automotive dashboard panel application.