Effects of kenaf fibre surface treatment to the mechanical properties of recycled polypropylene composites

Abang Ahmad, Abg Muhd Fakhrullah (2022) Effects of kenaf fibre surface treatment to the mechanical properties of recycled polypropylene composites. Project Report. Melaka, Malaysia, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Polymer reinforced with natural fibres filler potentially creates a green material with more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives for the environment. Thus, this research was carried out to develop kenaf fibre (KF) reinforced with recycled polypropylene (r-PP) based composites. The mechanical, and physical properties of the composites had been determined through this study. The natural fibres are treated with 10% NaOH solution and 10% NaOH+Silane solution and oven dried for 24 hours at 80°C. The natural fibre reinforced polymer composites (NFRPC) were compounded using an internal mixer followed by compression moulding. The selection of optimum composition of r-PP/KF based composites depends on the fibre loading and treatments. Therefore, in this study, different fibre loadings of natural fibres (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 wt.%) and treatments (NaOH and NaOH+Silane) with the fibre sizes of 62μm were used to investigate the mechanical, and physical properties of the fabricated composites. Then, the fracture morphology of the samples was analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation. At the end of this study, samples with highest mechanical strength performance was proposed. The NaOH treated KF had successfully enhanced the mechanical characteristic of KF, in terms of their tensile and flexural strength. The 10wt% NaOH treated kenaf sample has yielded an extraordinary improvement in mechanical and physical characteristics thus suggesting the treatment was successfully enhanced the properties of KF for composites application. This research is significantly important to be carried out to provide better alternatives for greener material that are much more sustainable and eco-friendly in daily life use

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