Better Wettability of Pandanus Utilis Alkaline Treated Fibres Tead to Higher Tensile Strengths of Composites.

Abstract

Composite materials made with synthetic fibres like E-glass, Kevlar or carbon have helped to provide a wide array of products to society with specific engineering properties. However, these materials have a high carbon footprint as well as being non-biodegradable. The use of natural fibre, as a substitution to these man-made fibres, has been studied and encouraging results are being obtained.In this study, the use of ‘Pandanus utilis’ fibre as a reinforcing agent in plastic was investigated with the aim of exploring specific properties such as the tensile strength of the fibre, its wettability and the effect of fibre length after treating the fibre with two different NaOH solutions. Results have shown that better reinforcement was obtained for the composites (11.10 ± 2.53MPa) with fibres subjected to a more aggressive treatment (2.5%NaOH for 2h) compared to the composite made with fibres having maximum tensile strength (168 ± 12MPa at 0.5% NaOH for 14h), due to a better hydrophilicity of the alkaline treated fibre (87.37° internal angle). Within the range of short chopped fibre length tested (6 to 15 mm), it was shown that there was a general decrease in the tensile strength of the composite.