Mechanical and thermal properties and water absorption of jute fiber reinforced poly(butylene succinate) biodegradable composites

Abstract

The poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) biodegradable composites reinforced with jute fibers were developed. The effect of fiber content (10-60wt%) on the properties and water absorption of jute/PBS biodegradable composites was studied. The effect of alkali, silane, and combined alkali and silane surface treatment on the properties and water absorption of jute/PBS composites was investigated. The mechanical properties of surface treated jute/ PBS composites were significantly higher than those of untreated ones. Compared with alkali or silane treatment, the combined alkali and silane surface treatment showed better mechanical properties of jute/PBS composites. The best mechanical properties of jute/PBS composites were achieved at 50wt% in this study, which showed an increase in tensile strength by 517.9%, tensile modulus by 3529.8%, flexural strength by 302.6%, and flexural modulus by 1949.1% compared with those of PBS resin. Fractured surface morphologies of composite specimens exhibited an improvement of interfacial fiber-matrix adhesion in the composites reinforced with surface-treated jute fibers. The surface-treated jute/PBS composites having good fiber-matrix adhesion resulted in stable composites with better thermal stability than untreated jute/PBS composites. The water absorption amount of the composites increased with increasing the fiber content. The surface-treated jute/PBS composites showed relatively lower water absorption behavior compared to untreated ones.

Influence of Fiber Content on Properties of Oil Palm Mesocarp Fiber/Poly(butylene succinate) Biocomposites

“…The mechanical properties of PBS are reportedly similar to those of conventional thermoplastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene, which are derived from petroleum and non-biodegradable sources (Nam et al 2012). Further, PBS is a sustainable thermoplastic as it can be produced from bio-based derived monomers of succinic acid and 1, 4-butanediol via a poly-condensation reaction (Xu and Guo 2010).…”

“…According to recent publications, a wide range of natural fibers are being utilized as filler or reinforcement in various types of thermoplastic matrices to fabricate biocomposites; these include oil palm (Shinoj et al 2010(Shinoj et al , 2011aTeh et al 2013;Eng et al 2014;Rayung et al 2014;Then et al 2013Then et al , 2014aThen et al , 2015a, kenaf (Abdul , hemp (Terzopoulou et al 2014), jute (Nam et al 2012), coir (Nam et al 2011), cotton stalk (Tan et al 2011), sisal (Joseph et al 2003), and banana (Pothan et al 2003).…”

Creep Rupture of Water-Absorbed Green Composite

“…For the application of structural material, there are many papers about the mechanical properties of water-absorbed green composite [16], [17]; but there are few papers about creep rupture strength and the life of water-absorbed green composite. This study examined the creep rupture property of water-absorbed green composite for longterm safety.…”

Multifunctional polymer composites using natural fiber reinforcements

“…Wood fiber is polar and hydrophilic, whereas most of thermoplastics matrices such as PP and PE are nonpolar and hydrophobic. Examples of chemical treatments include alkali [10,11], silane [10,11], acetylation [10], benzoylation [12], acrylation [13], and isocyanates [14]. This leads to difficulty in dispersing wood fiber in the thermoplastic melt and to a poor interfacial adhesion, resulting in inferior composite properties.…”

“…This leads to difficulty in dispersing wood fiber in the thermoplastic melt and to a poor interfacial adhesion, resulting in inferior composite properties. Nam et al [11] investigated the effect of alkali, silane, and combined alkali and silane surface treatment on the properties and water absorption of jute-poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) composites. In order to utilize the full potential of WPCs, such drawbacks need to be considered and overcome.…”