Characterization Of Kenaf Bast Fibre Filled Poly (Butylene Succinate) Composites: Mechanical, Water Absorption And Weathering Properties.

Characterization of kenaf bast fibre (KBF) filled poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) composites in this study involved several stages. · Pencirian komposit poli(butilena suksinat) (PBS) terisi gentian kulit kenaf (KBF) ini melibatkan beberapa peringkat kajia

Water absorption and curing time performance of urea formaldehyde resin mixed with different amount phosphorous-based fire retardants.

The curing time and the properties of urea formaldehyde (UF) resin mixed with fire retardants, BP (mixture of boric acid, guanylurea phosphate and phosphoric acid), monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) were studied. There were two amounts used, 8% w/w and 10% w/w. The curing time of the mixed resin was determined by using thermo oil at the temperature of 170ºC. Water absorption test and physical observations were done to evaluate the properties of the fire retardant-mixed resin. The non-fire retardant UF resin samples were used as controls. The solubility of MAP and DAP in the water at different weights also has been studied. The solubility test was done with and without the involvement of heat. The study showed that UF resin mixed with MAP and BP cured faster than DAP-mixed UF and control samples. The time taken for UF resin to mix with 10 % w/w and 8 % w/w MAP were 20 s and 28 s respectively. The time taken for UF resin mixed with 10 % and 8 % w/w DAP was slightly than the controls, which are 160 s and 150 s respectively. The time taken for UF resin mixed with 10 % w/w and 8 % w/w BP was 101 s and 92 s respectively.The curing time for control samples was 140 s respectively. MAP and DAP were shown to be highly soluble, as they took less than 1 minute to be dissolved in the water without heat, but BP took 30 minutes to be dissolved in the water without heat and less than 1 minute with heat. Water absorption test showed that the higher the amount of MAP, DAP and BP mixed into the resin, the higher would be the rate of water absorbed

Effect of maleated compatibiliser (PBS-g-MA) addition on the flexural properties and water absorption of poly(butylene succinate)/kenaf bast fibre composites

Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) composites with 30 wt.% loading of kenaf bast fibre (KBF) were compatibilised with 5 wt.% maleated PBS (PBS-g-MA). The maleic anhydride (MA) concentration in the compatibiliser was either 3, 5, 7 or 10 phr. In general, the compatibilised composites showed better flexural properties than the un-compatibilised composite. The highest increment in the flexural strength and modulus of 12.7 and 8.9%, respectively, were obtained with the addition of PBS-g-MA with MA concentration of 5 phr. Compatibilised and un-compatibilised PBS/KBF composites were immersed in distilled water for 90 days. The absorption of water by all the composites was observed to follow Fick’s law. The equilibrium moisture content, Mm, of the composites with PBS-g-MA at 3, 5 and 7 phr of MA concentrations was lower than that of the un-compatibilised composite due to improved fiber-matrix interfacial adhesion and reduction of voids content. Both un-compatibilised and compatibilised composites showed dimensional instability after the water absorption. This was probably due to the degradation of the fibre-matrix interfacial adhesion and fibre integrity. The flexural properties of these composites decreased after the water absorption. After re-drying only some of the flexural properties were recovered from plasticizing effect of water

Fire propagation and strength performance of fire retardant-treated Hibiscus cannabinus particleboard

The fire propagation and strength performance of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) core particle board treated with three different commercialized fire retardants were studied using ten percent concentration of fire retardants. The fire propagation test was evaluated using performance index (I), which indicates the heat release of the tested particle boards. Physical and mechanical properties such as water absorption, thickness swelling, Modulus of Rupture (MOR), Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Internal Bond (IB) of the treated and untreated boards were also studied. The study showed that diammonium phosphate (DAP) was excellent in reducing the heat release of the boards followed by monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and BP® [mixture of 27-33% boric acid, 67-73% guanylurea phosphate and 0.0-4.2% phosphoric acid]. DAP and MAP were able to delay the maximum early heat release of the boards by about 15 to 16 min and 18 to 20 min, respectively compared to BP® which was only able to delay the maximum early heat release by about 10 to 15 min after ignition. The heat release of the DAP and MAP-treated particle boards started 5 min after ignition, but the heat release of the BP®-treated boards started from the beginning of the test. Boards treated with DAP were found comply with the standard ratings for thickness swelling and water absorption test. MAP-treated boards were found comply with the standard rating for MOR and were found to be the best compared to the other treated boards for MOE and IB. However, treated boards complied with the standard ratings of MOE and IB

Morphological study of synthesized RGO/ Pt nanocomposites via facile chemical reduction method

Reduced graphene oxide nanosheet (RGO)/Pt nanocomposite have been successfully prepared through a facile chemical reduction method. The reduction of Pt precursor was carried out using sodium borohydride as the efficient chemical reductant. The morphology of RGO/Pt nanocomposite was investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). HRTEM analysis showed that platinum nanoparticles were homogenously distributed onto the surface of RGO. The electrochemical study proved that Pt nanoparticles were successfully incorporated onto RGO. Therefore, it can be concluded that the proposed method could provide well-dispersed of Pt nanoparticles onto RGO to form RGO/ Pt nanocomposite

Dielectric performance of Hybrid Carbon Nanotube-Alumina Filled Epoxy Nanocomposites / Muhammad Razlan Zakaria...[et al.]

The multi-scale hybridisation of alumina (Al2O3) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was synthesised with the use of chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The CNTs were grown directly on the Al2O3 particle by utilising a nickel catalyst while being under an atmosphere of methane. When incorporated into the epoxy matrix, the CNT-Al2O3 hybrid filler provided new opportunity for the development of high performance multifunctional composites. The goal of hybridizing CNTs and Al2O3 particles is to avoid CNT agglomeration as a result of van der Waals attractions. The particles of Al2O3 serve as “vehicles” for CNTs so that they can homogenously disperse in the epoxy matrix. As a comparative study, preparation of CNT-Al2O3 was also done through a physical mixing method. The result revealed that compared to the CNT–Al2O3 filler that was physically mixed, the CNT–Al2O3 hybrid filler exhibited a more homogeneous dispersion within the epoxy matrix and it had a higher dielectric constant. Furthermore, compared to the neat epoxy, the dielectric constant of the CNT–Al2O3 hybrid epoxy nanocomposites was enhanced by up to 22%

Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of epoxy resin toughened with epoxidized soybean oil

Biobased toughened thermosetting polymer blend was prepared by incorporating epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) into a petroleum-based epoxy (DGEBA) in different composition ratios. The mechanical properties (tensile and flexural tests) of the ESO/DGEBA thermoset blends were determined. Thermal properties of the blends were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis. The result showed that, the tensile and flexural properties decreased with increasing of ESO content. However, a slight increase in the strength properties was observed at 10% of ESO content. A significant enhancement in impact strength proves the role of ESO acting as a plasticizer in the blends as well as improve the toughness properties of ESO/DGEBA thermoset blend. As the ESO content increase, the thermal stability of ESO/DGEBA thermoset blend has decreased might be due to reduced cross-linking density of the epoxy network. Further investigations on morphological properties were also done to correlate the mechanical properties of ESO/DGEBA thermoset blend

Direct Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Graphene Nanosheets on Supported Copper Oxide

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