Preparation and characterization of biocomposite from modified α-cellulose of Agave cantala leaf fiber by graft copolymerization with 2‑hydroxy ethyl methacrylate

Abstract

In this study a prominent technique namely grafting of 2‑hydroxy ethyl methacrylate (known as HEMA) monomer onto modified bleached Agave cantala leaf fibers (ACLF) to fabricate bio-composite by using K2S2O8/FeSO4 as a redox initiator in aqueous media to develop mechanical tensile strength and also for sustainable environmental performances. Various investigated parameters like reaction time, monomer concentration, initiator concentration, grafting temperature have been optimized successfully to obtain maximum grafting yield. Noteworthy that the grafting percentage onto modified fibres has shown an increasing tendency while monomer concentration increases from (0.084–0.82)Mol/L and initiator concentration from (0.005–0.0074)Mol/L and thereafter it started to decrease. Meanwhile, the rate of reaction actually depends upon the reaction time and temperature. Whereas maximum graft yield was obtained exactly at 70 °C within 2 h in addition the obtained values were around 87.25% and 95.79% respectively. The modified and grafted polymeric samples were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, SEM analysis and TGA techniques. The effect of external influences such as temperature, exposure to sunlight and biodegradability in sewage water on raw, modified fibers and HEMA-g-ACLF composites were also studied. The tensile properties and water resistance characteristics of grafted products were far better than that of extracted raw and modified α-cellulosic fibers.