Optimizing the parameters in durian skin fiber reinforced polypropylene composites by response surface methodology

Awareness on the advantages of natural fibers stimulates the interest of researchers to use them as reinforcement in polymer composites for robust application. Therefore, investigation on optimizing the impact property of durian skin fiber (DSF) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites was carried out to determine the effect of DSF content, fiber size and maleic anhydride polypropylene (MAPP) content. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used in the design of experiments and in the analysis of results. The optimized value for the maximum impact strength of PP–DSF composite was found at 50 wt% DSF content and fiber size range of 250–500 μm with 0 wt% MAPP. The maximum impact property for PP–DSF composite was 10.66 kJ/m2. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), fiber content significantly affects the strength of PP–DSF composites, followed by the fiber size and MAPP content. The P-value of the model of experiment is less than 0.05 and the determination coefficient (R2) is nearly 1 which suggested that the model is significant and implies on the precision and processability in the production

Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of durian skin fibre reinforced PLA biocomposites

Durian skin waste generated by durian fruit or Durio zibethinus Murray show potential as a new reinforcement based-natural fibre. Similar to other lignocellulosic fibre, durian skin fibre (DSF) is capable in reinforcing polylactic acid (PLA) through extrusion and injection moulding processes for various applications. In current study, the effects of fibre content and pre-treatment using 4% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on DSF were investigated on impact and thermal properties of PLA biocomposites. Treated DSF significantly enhanced the properties of PLA biocomposites as compared to untreated biocomposite. PLA can be replaced by 30 wt% DSF for similar impact performance. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) demonstrated that pre-treated DSF improved the thermal stability of PLA biocomposite. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed the presence of pre-treated DSF minimally enhanced the glass transition temperature (Tg), crystallization temperature (Tc) and melting temperature (Tm) relative to untreated DSF which suggests on better reinforcement with NaOH pre-treatment