title: Fabrication of borassus fruit lignocellulose fiber/PP composites and comparison with jute, sisal and coir fibers.
abstract: Novel composites based on borassus fruit fine fiber (BFF) and polypropylene (PP) were fabricated with variable fiber composition (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) by injection molding. Maleated PP (MAPP) was also used as compatibilizer at 5 wt% for effective fiber-matrix adhesion. FTIR analysis confirms the evidence of a chemical bonding between the fiber and polymeric matrix through esterification in presence of MAPP. The tensile and flexural properties were found to increase with 15 and 10 wt% fiber loadings respectively, and decreased thereafter. Coir, jute and sisal fiber composites were also fabricated with 15 wt% fiber loading under the same conditions as used for BFF/PP composites. It was found that the mechanical properties of BFF (15 wt%)/PP composites were equivalent to jute/PP, sisal/PP and superior to coir/PP composites. Jute/PP and sisal/PP composites showed higher water absorption than BFF/PP and coir/PP composites. These results have demonstrated that the BFF/PP composites can also be an alternative material for composites applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Changwon National University, Changwon 641-773, South Korea. sudhakar678@yahoo.com
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sudhakara
authors.forename: Dani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jagadeesh
authors.forename: YiQi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C Venkata
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: A P Kamala
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D027882:Agave / Q000737:chemistry*; D003059:Cocos / Q000737:chemistry*; D032381:Corchorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D008298:Maleates / Q000737:chemistry; D011126:Polypropylenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008298:Maleates; D011126:Polypropylenes; D014867:Water; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin; C030272:maleic acid
keywords: Borassus fruit fiber; MAPP; Thermal stability; Water absorption