Thermal Stability of PALF-PP and PALF-PLA for Natural Fiber Honeycomb Core Materials

Abstract

This paper studied the thermal behaviour of pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) reinforced with polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA) composite, used for natural fiber honeycomb core. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis were used to measure the thermal characteristic of PALF-PP/PLA composites. In particular, the TGA analysis was utilized to measure the degradation and decomposition of materials in different composition (NF-PP/PLA (0%, 15%, 30% and 50%). The measurements were carried out in the temperature of 0oC- 900oC, at a heating rate of 10oCmin-1 and under an inert atmosphere (nitrogen gas). The temperature of DSC analysis was programmed to between 25oC- 500oC. The result shows the thermal stability of PALF-PP/PLA decreased as the PALF filler-loading increased. While from the DSC analysis this study clearly shows in the graph plot, the sample have glass transition temperature, crystallization and melting temperature. So that means the sample in this study is crystalline and amorphous domains.