Effects of alkali treatments on the tensile properties of pineapple leaf fibre reinforced high impact polystyrene composites

A study on the effects of alkali treatment and compatibilising agent on the tensile properties of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composite is presented in this paper. The tensile properties of natural fibre reinforced polymer composites are mainly influenced by the interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the fibres. In this study, several chemical modifications were employed to improve the interfacial matrix-fibre bonding and this resulted in the enhancement of tensile properties of the composites. In this study, the surface modification of pineapple fibre with alkali treatments and compatibilizer were used to improve the adhesion between hydrophilic pineapple fibre and hydrophobic polymer matrix. There are two concentrations of NaOH treatments and compatibilizer used in this study, namely, 2 and 4 wt. %. The results show that the alkali treated fibre and the addition of compatibilising agent in PALF/HIPS composites have improved the tensile strength and tensile modulus of the composites

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calometric (DSC) analysis of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites

This paper studied the thermal behaviour of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composite. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis were used to measure the thermal characteristic of HIPS/PALF composites. In particular, the TGA analysis was utilized to measure the degradation and decomposition of materials in neat polystyrene, pineapple fibre, and the composites. The measurements were carried out in the temperature of 25°C – 800°C, at a heating rate of 20°C min-1 and the nitrogen gas flow was 50 mL min-1. The temperature of the DSC analysis was programmed to be between 25°C – 300°C. The results from TGA analysis show that the addition of pineapple fibre has improved the thermal stability of the composites as compared to neat HIPS. In addition, the effects of compatibilising agent and surface modification of PALF with alkali treated were also determined and compared

Enhancement of flexural modulus and strength of epoxy nanocomposites with the inclusion of functionalized GNPs using Tween 80

In this work, epoxy nanocomposite was prepared with the inclusion of unfunctionalized as-received GNPs (ARGNPs) and functionalized GNPs using surfactant Tween 80 (T80GNPs) in the epoxy resin using a mechanical stirrer. ARGNPs were used as it is, while T80GNPs were prepared through the adsorption of surfactant onto GNPs’ surface using a sonication procedure in an ultrasonic bath. Characterization of nanoparticles using SEM shows that ARGNPs indicated a softer image representing a thinner layer of graphene stacks compared to T80GNP which has a tangible solid-looking image resulting from the sedimentation during the process of filtration. Elementally, both ARGNPs and T80GNPs were found to contain carbon, oxygen, and sulfur, as indicated by the EDX spectrum, with the C/O ratio for T80GNPs being 34.7% higher than that for ARGNPs, suggesting the adsorption of Tween 80 molecules on the GNPs after functionalization. FTIR spectroscopy confirms the attachment of Tween 80 molecules on GNPs surface with T80GNPs spectrum indicated higher peak intensity than ARGNPs. Flexural testing demonstrated that the addition of 0.9 wt.% ARGNPs and 0.9 wt.% T80GNPs to the epoxy increased the modulus of the nanocomposites to 72.1% and 82.6%, respectively, relative to neat epoxy. With the same amount of particle content, both nanocomposites showed increased strength, with ARGNPs and T80GNPs exhibiting strengths of 70.5% and 87.8%, respectively, relative to neat epoxy

Physical properties of short pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites

The aim of this study to investigate the physical properties of short pineapple leaf fibre (SPALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites. Three different sizes of the fibre were used in this study which was 10-40mesh, 40-60mesh and 60-80mesh. A five different fibre contents were used in this study which was 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%. The fabricated SPALF/HIPS composites were used melt mixing and compression moulding. The physical properties of SPALF/HIPS composites such as water absorption, thickness swelling, melt flow index (MFI), and density board of composites were studied. The result showed that the addition of the SPALF was decreased the physical properties compare to pure HIPS (0% SPALF)

The effect of alkali treatment on the mechanical properties of short pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites.

This paper reported the study of the effect of the alkali (NaOH) treatment on the mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of alkali (NaOH) treatment with different concentration of NaOH (0%, 2% and 4%) solution. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, notched and unnotched impact and hardness of short pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites were studied and compared. NaOH concentration of 4% that was used for the short PALF treatment showed the highest mechanical properties value compared to the other concentration

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential calometric (DSC) analysis of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites.

This paper studied the thermal behaviour of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composite. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis were used to measure the thermal characteristic of HIPS/PALF composites. In particular, the TGA analysis was utilized to measure the degradation and decomposition of materials in neat polystyrene, pineapple fibre, and the composites. The measurements were carried out in the temperature of 25°C – 800°C, at a heating rate of 20°C min-1 and the nitrogen gas flow was 50 mL min-1. The temperature of the DSC analysis was programmed to be between 25°C – 300°C. The results from TGA analysis show that the addition of pineapple fibre has improved the thermal stability of the composites as compared to neat HIPS. In addition, the effects of compatibilising agent and surface modification of PALF with alkali treated were also determined and compared