EFFECT OF COMPATIBILIZER ON FAN PALM LEAF STALK FIBER-REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITE

Abstract

Previous two decades have witnessed considerable development in the field of natural fiber composites, an alternative to existing synthetic fiber composites. There have been a growing interest in utilizing natural fibers due to its various advantages such as biocompatibility, low carbon footprint, low cost, less abrasive nature and high specific strength and modulus. Therefore, composite industries are shifting their attention towards eco-friendly practices which conserves energy while also reducing their materials cost. In the current experimental endeavour, the potential of Fan palm leaf stalk fiber (FPLSF) as reinforcing additive for injection moulded thermoplastic composites was investigated. FPLSF was extracted by mechanical decortication followed by mild alkaline treatment process. The present work investigates the mechanical and water absorption behaviour of FPLSF/PP (with and without MAEPR as compatibilizer) composites were investigated for FPLSF loading of (0%, 10%, 20% and 30%). FPLSF composites with or without MAEPR as compatibilizer were prepared by using melt mixing followed by injection molding process and the influence of compatibilizer was studied. Also, water absorption behaviour was studied in depth by performing water absorption kinetics and effect of water absorption on tensile properties of the fabricated composites. Mere addition of FPLSF into the PP matrix without MAEPR resulted in significant reduction in the mechanical properties of the composites due to the poor interfacial adhesion between the FPLSF and the PP matrix. Tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength could be improved by the addition of MAEPR compatibilizer due to the enhancement in interfacial adhesion between the FPLSF and PP matrix. Enhanced interfacial adhesion could be seen in the SEM micrographs of coupled PP/E/F 20 composite specimen. However, addition of MAEPR caused reduction in tensile and flexural modulus values due to its elastomeric nature. Water absorption uptake of un-coupled composites was higher than that of coupled composites. A decrease in tensile strength and modulus was observed for water aged PP/F and PP/E/F composite specimens when compared to their respective dry counterparts. However, PP/F composite specimens underwent greater deterioration in tensile strength when compared to the PP/E/F ones. This could be due to the poor fiber/matrix interface which resulted in high water absorption, thereby resulting in poor mechanical properties of PP/F composites. Water absorption in FPLSF/PP composites was found to follow the kinetics of fickian diffusion process. Aging index (AI) was calculated to quantify the deterioration in mechanical properties of coupled and uncoupled FPLSF/PP composites.