The use of sugarcane bagasse in PP matrix composites: A comparative study of bagasse treatment using calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide on composite strength

Abstract

Fabrication of mesoporous silica nanoparticles by sol gel method followed various hydrothermal temperature AIP Conference Proceedings 1945, 020052 (2018) Abstract. Sugarcane fibers have been studied as reinforcement fibers to develop biocomposites of sugarcane fiberspolypropylene (PP). In this study, two different alkaline solutions were used to modify the sugarcane bagasse fibers, i.e. 10% v/v NaOH and 14% v/v Ca(OH)2 solution for 4 hours. Sugarcane fibers filled to polypropylene (PP) matrix was 3 cm, 5 cm and as their original length. They were added in the various weight percentage ratios between sugarcane fibers to PP of 20/80, 25/75, and 30/70. Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to study the chemical structure of bagasse fibers after treatment. Composite strength was measured by tensile test which was performedin accordance with ASTM D638-03. The fracture surface of tensile tested composite specimens contained fibers from both treatment was evaluated using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Results from the tensile test show that performing NaOH treatment for 4 hours could increase the tensile strength of the composites to 24.92 MPa when original length sugarcane fibers was used in the 25/75 weight ratio. Meanwhilethe highest strength of 11.30 MPa was obtained when 5 cm fibers treated with Ca(OH)2were added in a weight % ratio of bagasse fibers/PP at 25/75. The strength of composites decreases when bagasse fibers were added to 30 wt.%. The SEM evaluation shows the mixture between sugarcane fibers and PP was not quite homogeneous. In addition to that is a greater number of fibers were found with the transversal orientation or perpendicular to the direction of tensile stress.

Structural Evaluation on Sugarcane Bagasse Treated Using Sodium and Calcium Hydroxide

“…PP using both treated fibers and the results have been reported elsewhere [31]. Overall the strength of the composites using the Ca(OH)2 treated fibers was lower than the strength obtained using NaOH treated bagasse fibers.…”

The Effects of Reprocessing and Fiber Treatments on the Properties of Polypropylene-Sugarcane Bagasse Biocomposites

“…Anggono et al [ 19 ] studied the incorporation of bagasse (up to 30 wt.%) in a polypropylene (PP) matrix using injection molding processes. They perform alkali treatments on the fibers with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH) 2 ) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and evaluated the effect of those treatments on the mechanical properties of the biocomposites.…”

Evaluation of mechanical performance and water absorption properties of modified sugarcane bagasse high-density polyethylene plastic bag green composites

“…8,10,11 Although HDPE is a safe plastic material owing to its chemical resistance with packaged food or beverages, it is not recommended to be used repeatedly due to the increasing release of antimony trioxide compounds with time. 10 Good numbers of research articles are published related to PE bagasse 1,7,12,13 and PP bagasse 3,5,14,15 composites. Agunsoye and Aigbodion have carried out the investigation on the uncarbonized bagasse (UB) and carbonized bagasse (CB) particles (10–50 wt%) filled with recycled PE biocomposites, and their results showed that the increase of tensile and bending strength achieved the maximum extent at 20 wt% UB and 30 wt% CB.…”