Effect of alkali treatment on cotton/bamboo fibres for application as a reinforcement material

Abstract

The current study focuses on the creation of epoxy composites with cotton/bamboo woven fabric reinforcement. The effect of alkali treatment with varying (1, 2, and 3 wt.%) of NaOH on mechanical characteristics such as tensile, impact, flexural, compression, and interlaminar shear stress is explored and compared to those of the untreated cotton/bamboo fabric. The composites were made using a compression moulding process with four different fibre loadings (30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 wt.%). The mechanical characteristics of the composites were studied and their structure was evaluated by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The cotton/bamboo/epoxy composite with 2 wt.% NaOH at 45 wt.% fibre loading was found to have better mechanical properties when compared to the others.