Study of raw and chemically treated Sansevieria ehrenbergii fibers for brake pad application

Abstract

The replacement for synthetic fiber and other materials with natural fiber in the brake pad has become a key research area in many industries. Many production industries are always focused on natural fiber over synthetic fibers because of its advantage of biodegradability, less expensive, availability, and environment friendly. However, natural fibers cannot be used directly in composites because of its poor adhesion behavior between matrix and fiber and observe high water content in the fiber. Further, the excess water content in the inside fiber has been removed by using alkaline, benzoylation, and acetylation treatment. It has been achieved by the same chemical concentration but with different time duration. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis revealed that the amount of cellulose content after chemical treatment was improved and decrease in other substances like hemicellulose, lignin, and wax content. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis study confirmed that the rise in the crystalline index (70.41 from 52.7) of alkali-treated SEFs at 30 min. The thermogravimetric analysis study has confirmed that the increase in the degradation temperature of Benzoyl-treated SEFs (387 °C) at 60 min when compared with untreated fiber (320 °C). The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) results have confirmed that the elimination of impurities from the fiber surface after chemical treatment. Further, the acetyl- treated fibers have shown that better hydrophobic properties than other treated fibers. In the above tests have been concluded that the chemically treated fibers, as one of the suitable materials for the development of the brake pad application.