Effects of fabric counts and weave designs on the properties of laminated woven kenaf carbon fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites

The effects of different fabric materials namely weave designs (plain and satin) and fabric counts (5 × 5 and 6 × 6) on the properties of laminated woven kenaf/carbon fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites were evaluated. The hybrid composites were fabricated from two types of fabric, i.e., woven kenaf that was made from a yarn of 500tex and carbon fibre, by using vacuum infusion technique and epoxy resin as matrix. The panels were tested for tensile, flexural, and impact strengths. The results have revealed that plain fabric is more suitable than satin fabric for obtaining high tensile and impact strengths. Using a fabric count of 5 × 5 has generated composites that are significantly higher in flexural modulus as compared to 6 × 6 which may be attributed to their structure and design. The scanned electron micrographs of the fractured surfaces of the composites demonstrated that plain woven fabric composites had better adhesion properties than satin woven fabric composites, as indicated by the presence of notably lower amount of fibre pull out

Alkaline Sulfite Anthraquinone and Methanol (ASAM) Pulping Process of Tropical Bamboo (Gigantochloa scortechinii)

This chapter explores the characteristic potentials of alkaline sulfite anthraquinone and methanol (ASAM) pulping of bamboo culms (Gigantochloa scortechinii) in the industrial production of pulp and paper for packaging. The biometric characterization results of the bamboo culms show that bamboo has fiber length of 1980–4000 μm, Runkel ratio of 0.86, and flexibility ratio of 50.19, while the chemical compositions of the bamboo contain 47.67% cellulose, 68.33% holocellulose, 26% lignin, and 3.69% solvent extractive, which give good paper quality fiber and also falls within the range of wood from softwoods species. The study revealed that the optimum ASAM pulping parameters was at 16% NaOH and 90 min cooking time, resulting in Kappa number of 14.17 and pulp yield of 49.06%, while the paper tensile index of 20.86 Nm/g, tear index of 22.64 mN.m2/g, and brightness of 39.32% were obtained. The biometric and chemical characterizations of the ASAM pulped bamboo have shown that ASAM pulped bamboo produces high-quality pulp and paper suitable for packaging and printing paper. Hence, the use of bamboo materials can reduce the burden on the forest, due to the increasing demand for paper and paper products, while supporting the natural biodiversity

Impregnation of sesenduk (Endospermum diadenum) wood with phenol formaldehyde and nanoclay admixture: effect on fungal decay and termites attack

The aimed of this study was to evaluate the resistance of sesenduk (Endospermum diadenum) wood, treated using admixture of low molecular weight phenol formaldehyde (LmwPF) resin and nanoclay, against white rot fungus (Pycnoporus sanguineus) and subterranean termites (Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren). Seven sample groups including untreated sesenduk wood and treated sesenduk wood using 10, 15 and 20% LmwPF resin and the admixture of the 1.5% nanoclay with every level of resin concentrations. Air-dried samples were impregnated using vacuum-pressure process. After impregnation, the treated samples were heated in an oven at 150° C for 30 min. Five test blocks from each treatment group were tested separately against P. sanguineus and C. curvignathus in accordance with AWPA E10-12 and AWPA E1-13 standards, respectively. The results showed that both treatments had significant effects on the percentage weight loss and decay rate of the samples. The weight loss due to termite attack was found reduce with the increasing PF concentration. Generally, the addition of 1.5% nanoclay in PF resin slightly increased the resistance against both deteriorating agents compared to the wood treated using PF alone. It was found that the PF resin can be used as an effective method to improve the durability of sesenduk wood

Influence of cellulose II polymorph nanowhiskers on bio-based nanocomposite film from Jatropha oil polyurethane

Green polyurethane from plant oil-based such as Jatropha oil has recently received attention due to its environmental friendliness and sustainability. With incorporation of nanocellulose even though at low loadings in polymer matrices has shown a significant improvement. However, limited research has been done on different cellulose nanowhisker (CNW) polymorphs and their impact on composites. A number of studies have shown that the handling of cellulose polymorph also improves the properties of composite products as the cellulose II is more chemically reactive and thermodynamically stable than cellulose I. The aim this study is to investigate the effect ofCNWwith cellulose II polymorph in Jatropha oil-based polyurethane (JOPU). Different weight percent ofCNWII (0.1-1.5 wt%) were incorporated into JOPU films using vacuum rotavap and film casting. The total weight of 6 g was used as a fixed ratio (1:3) matrix of 4.4'-diphenyl-methane diisocyanate (MDI) and Jatropha-oil polyol (JO). The acid hydrolysis process was subjected to mercerised microcrystalline cellulose (MMCC) for the production of CNW-II. X-ray diffraction analyses were carried out to confirm cellulose II lattice of CNW-II. The CNW-II morphology was analysed using the transmission electron microscope. It was found that CNW-II had a granule-like shape with an average size of 74.04 nmin length and 21.36 nmin width. The translucency and colour of the film have also been tested by optical light microscopes. The clarity of the film and colour found affected by the highest CNW-II film loading. Based on the FTIR analysis, the spectra of all films show a typical polyurethane pattern that JOPU spectra found dominant due to very low volume NCW-II content in film. The same trend is observed for thermal degradation tested using a thermogravimetric analyser. Tensile strength and water uptake have been shown to increase in proportion to the CNW-II content