Effect of Chemical Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Banana and Abaca Fiber Reinforced Composites

摘要

In materials industries, composite is an emerging material known for its low weight - high strength. The composite is a material that contains two different phases in order to create particular properties. The synthetic composites require a large quantum of energy and also the environment is being affected due to the pollution generated during the production and recycling. This draws the attention to use natural fibers as it is lower in cost and biodegradable. In this work, the chemical treatments of the banana and abaca natural fibers are carried out to modify the surface, stop the moisture absorption and improves the adhesion. The chemical treatment is carried out for both fibers separately in 10% concentrated sodium hydroxide for a duration of five hours and 5% concentrated potassium permanganate for a duration of two hours. The composite materials are fabricated using treated fiber and untreated fiber individually with general polymer resin by the hand lay-up process. The fabricated composites are tested to evaluate mechanical properties such as tensile, impact and flexural strength as per the ASTM standards. The mechanical properties of the treated fiber and untreated fiber are compared and it is found that the mechanical properties have been significantly improved due to the chemical treatment.