Commingled composites of polypropylene/coir-sisal yarn: effect of chemical treatments on thermal and tensile properties

Abstract

AbstractEco-friendly bio-composite of polypropylene (PP)/coir-sisal blended yarn was prepared using commingling technique, in which both the fibers are wound onto a metal plate and then compression molded. Various chemical treatments have been done in order to improve the interfacial adhesion between the matrix and reinforcement, thereby to increase the properties of the composite. Thermal stability study was done using thermogravimetric analysis. The resulting thermogram reveals that chemical treatments increase the thermal stability of the commingled composite to a considerable extent. A significant increase is observed in the tensile properties of the treated composite especially maleic anhydride modified PP (MAPP) treated composite as compared to the untreated one. The tensile strength and tensile modulus of MAPP treated composite was found to be 29.24 MPa and 1330 MPa, respectively, which was found to be 7.5% and 6.4% greater than that of untreated composite. The experimentally observed tensile properties of the composites were compared with the existing models of reinforced composites. The surface morphology and fiber surface treatments were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.