title: Impact strength and flexural properties enhancement of methacrylate silane treated oil palm mesocarp fiber reinforced biodegradable hybrid composites.
abstract: Natural fiber as reinforcement filler in polymer composites is an attractive approach due to being fully biodegradable and cheap. However, incompatibility between hydrophilic natural fiber and hydrophobic polymer matrix restricts the application. The current studies focus on the effects of incorporation of silane treated OPMF into polylactic acid (PLA)/polycaprolactone (PCL)/nanoclay/OPMF hybrid composites. The composites were prepared by melt blending technique and characterize the composites with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR spectra indicated that peak shifting occurs when silane treated OPMF was incorporated into hybrid composites. Based on mechanical properties results, incorporation of silane treated OPMF enhances the mechanical properties of unmodified OPMF hybrid composites with the enhancement of flexural and impact strength being 17.60% and 48.43%, respectively, at 10% fiber loading. TGA thermogram shows that incorporation of silane treated OPMF did not show increment in thermal properties of hybrid composites. SEM micrographs revealed that silane treated OPMF hybrid composites show good fiber/matrix adhesion as fiber is still embedded in the matrix and no cavity is present on the surface. Water absorption test shows that addition of less hydrophilic silane treated OPMF successfully reduces the water uptake of hybrid composites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chern Chiet
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7910-347X
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Eng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nor Azowa
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Norhazlin
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3536-7614
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zainuddin
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Hidayah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ariffin
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Centre for Defence Foundation Studies, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wan Md Zin Wan
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Yunus
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry; D028023:Arecaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D000077215:Clay; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology / Q000379:methods; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D018583:Pliability; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012821:Silanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013718:Tensile Strength; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D008689:Methacrylates; D028321:Plant Preparations; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D012821:Silanes; D014867:Water; C016240:polycaprolactone; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide); D000077215:Clay