Abstract
The incorporation of materials that were formally regarded as agricultural wastes into polymeric matrix has drawn the attention of many researchers in recent years. This research focused on reinforcing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix with treated jute fiber (JF)/oil palm pressed fruit fibers (OPPFF) at varying weight proportions. JF and OPPFF were cut to 2.5 mm length and were chemically treated thereafter with 1 M and 1.5 M sodium hydroxide solution respectively. The composites were produced using the compression molding technique. The morphological characterization of the fibers and composites for untreated and treated samples was studied with the aid of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tensile and flexural properties of the produced composite samples were also determined. From the result, the surface morphology of the fiber after treatment showed that there was obvious exposure of the fiber surface and removal of impurities as this influenced the microstructure of the composites and in turn the tensile and flexural properties. Hence, it was observed that 20 wt.% treated jute fiber addition shows the most significant enhancements in terms of tensile and flexural properties. The study exposed the effect of surface modification of JF/OPPF hybridization on HDPE matrix composite.
Highlights
The improvements in technology over the years have led to the constant need for materials with improved properties for high-performance applications such as aerospace, structural, automobile, and marine applications
It was observed that there was a decrease in the percentage of lignin and hemicellulose of the treated fibers when compared with the untreated ones, while there was an increase in the percentage of cellulose for both jute and oil palm pressed fruit (OPPF) fibers
Previous research [29] affirmed the fact that the presence of lignin and hemicellulose in natural fibers causes poor interfacial adhesion which emanates from their hydrophilic nature
Summary
The improvements in technology over the years have led to the constant need for materials with improved properties for high-performance applications such as aerospace, structural, automobile, and marine applications. The polymeric matrix can be classified as thermoplastics (include high and low densities polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, and polyethylene Terephthalate) and thermoset (epoxy, polyester, and vinyl ester) polymers [4,5] Likewise, reinforcing materials such as Kevlar, glass fiber, and carbon fiber had been used in producing composites in the past, these materials improved the properties of the matrix, but they are detrimental to human health and the environment at large. Natural fibers are non-toxic, they are renewable when used in composite production, available in abundance, and they improve service life and performance while reducing energy and service intensity [4,6] Natural fibers such as jute, bamboo, coir, cotton, dombeya butneri, hemp, and oil palm fibers have been used as reinforcements in recent research but these fibers are hydrophilic which has been their main drawback [7,8,9]. There is a need to modify the hydrophilic nature of these fibers
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