Tensile and flexural properties of biodegradable jute fiber reinforced poly lactic acid composites

Abstract

Abstract Several countries applied stringent regulations with respect to use of non-biodegradable products. Presently almost all fiber composite materials used in building and automobile industry are made from synthetic fibers and matrices. Disposable of these materials in landfill increases the burden on environment. In the present work, an attempt has been to develop biodegradable composite material and thus reduce the environmental concerns. Jute fiber is used as reinforcement and biodegradable poly lactic acid (PLA) as matrix in the preparation of biodegradable composites. Compression moulding method was adopted in the preparation of jutefiber reinforced PLA biodegradable composites. The Jute fiber reinforced PLA composites at four levels of loading (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) were utilized to conduct tensile test, and flexural test. The Tensile strength and flexural strength of PLA composite with jute fiber at 15% fiber loading was about 25% and 116% higher than the plain PLA respectively. The tensile modulus and flexural modulus of the jute/PLA composite at 15% fiber loading was 1.55 and 1.87 times that of plain PLA respectively. There is a significant change in the tensile and flexural properties of PLA when reinforced with jute fibers. Further, tensile and flexural failure modes of tested samples have been discussed.