Thermoset green composite by using natural fiber and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil resin

摘要

Thermoset composites are widely used for conventional composite applications. Thermoset resin has advantages in fabricating small numbers of components and large, complicated structures by using resin transfer molding. Many researchers have investigated thermoplastic resin based green composites, but only a few researchers have reported thermoset resin based green composites. In this study, plant-based thermoset composites are fabricated by using jute yarns and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil resin (AESO) and the basic mechanical properties are investigated. AESO is made out of soybean oil, and the addition of a few percentage of initiator may trigger free radical reactions to cure. First, the optimum mixture condition of AESO resin was investigated for initiator and styrene contents by comparing the bending strength and modulus. Styrene was used to dilute AESO and enhance the mechanical properties of cured resin. Experimental results showed that increase of styrene contents enhanced the mechanical properties as much as tens of percentage, while it decreased the ratio of renewable resources in fabricated composite. Then, unidirectional jute yarn reinforced composites were fabricated by using hand-layup, and the tensile modulus and strength were measured. The results showed that the specific modulus of the green thermoset composite is comparable to that of conventional GFRP.