The Study Of Thermoplastic Corn-Starch Composite Reinforced By Short Alkaline Treated Pineapple Leaf Fibre On Mechanical,Physical And Environmental Propertie

Ahmad Iqbal, Ahmad Syafiq (2018) The Study Of Thermoplastic Corn-Starch Composite Reinforced By Short Alkaline Treated Pineapple Leaf Fibre On Mechanical,Physical And Environmental Propertie. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Composite is the present and future of material technology owing to its many advantages.However,most of today’s composite is made from synthetic fibre that makes most of its non-degradable and harmful to the environment.In this study,fully biodegradable composite which uses natural fibre as reinforcement material and thermoplastic starch as the binder are being studied. Furthermore,the natural fibre that has been used in this study is pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) and the binder material is a biodegradable polymer made from powdered cornstarch that have been plasticized with glycerol.The reason PALF is chosen for the reinforcement material is due to its high cellulose content that indicates good mechanical properties.Besides,PALF in Malaysia is redundant and mostly regarded as waste material. Afterwards,the PALF in this study is treated with an alkaline (NaOH) for 1 H, this is done to study the effect of surface modification on the adhesion of PALF/TPCS composite.The types of test that has been conducted to investigate the properties of alkali treated and untreated PALF/TPCS are mechanical,physical and environmental tests.Moreover,the effect of fibre content on mechanical,physical and environmental properties is also being studied,the fibre composition starts from 20, 30,40, 50,and ends at 60 wt%, for most of the mechanical testing 50 wt% fibre composition shows the highest result.The mechanical testing that has been carried out are tensile,flexural,and impact test.Meanwhile,the physical testing that have been done are density,moisture absorption,moisture content,and water absorption.Last but foremost,soil burial and water solubility are the tests that have been performed for environmental.Conclusively, from the results,it can be assured that the properties of PALF/TPCS composite for most of the testing has been improved with alkali treatment or mercerization of the PALF,due to better adhesion between reinforcement and binder material.

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