Physical, Mechanical, and Morphological Properties of Treated Sugar Palm/Glass Reinforced Poly(Lactic Acid) Hybrid Composites.

S F K Sherwani,A Khalina,Z Leman,S M Sapuan,E S Zainudin

doi:10.3390/polym13213620

Abstract

This research was performed to evaluate the physical, mechanical, and morphological properties of treated sugar palm fiber (SPF)/glass fiber (GF) reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) hybrid composites. Morphological investigations of tensile and flexural fractured samples of composites were conducted with the help of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Alkaline and benzoyl chloride (BC) treatments of SPFs were performed. A constant weight fraction of 30% total fiber loading and 70% poly(lactic acid) were considered. The composites were initially prepared by a Brabender Plastograph, followed by a hot-pressing machine. The results reported that the best tensile and flexural strengths of 26.3 MPa and 27.3 MPa were recorded after alkaline treatment of SPF, while the highest values of tensile and flexural moduli of 607 MPa and 1847 MPa were recorded after BC treatment of SPF for SPF/GF/PLA hybrid composites. The novel SPF/GF/PLA hybrid composites could be suitable for fabricating automotive components.

Highlights

Due to environmentally friendly customers’ desires to save the earth, recently there has been a growing interest in using renewable resources and biodegradable products.For the development of polymer composites, many major industries have focused on using natural fibers
The density result showed that the density was improved by adding GF to the SP/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites from 1.21 to 1.32 gm/cm3
Comparing S1, –S3 composites, the density of S3 exhibited the highest value of 1.32 gm/cm3, concluding that the hybridization of sugar palm fiber (SPF)/PLA composite increases the density of the composite

Summary

Introduction

For the development of polymer composites, many major industries have focused on using natural fibers. This is owing to the benefits offered by natural fibers (e.g., they are cost-effective, dense, easy to obtain, environmentally safe, non-toxic, durable, reusable, biodegradable, abrasion-resistant, have high strength and modulus, and are simple to process) [1,2]. Natural fibers’ biodegradability makes them ideal for reinforcement in polymer composites [3,4] Both natural and synthetic fibers can be used to create hybrid composites. Sugar palm has been considered by many studies as a desirable natural fiber due to its easy cellulose separation from other components [7]. Merr) is found abundantly in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Thailand [8]

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Conclusion