Studies on the effect of silane treatment of plant based natural fiber reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

Recently, there has been a rapid interest and growth in the field of biocomposites due to consumer s awareness towards products made from renewable sources, environmental concern, weight saving and cost reduction. The notable merits of Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites (NFRC) over synthetic fiber composites include renewability, recyclability, biodegradability, light weight, high specific modulus, low environmental impact, low cost, availability and potential capacity to support wide range of applications. Such attractive features make them a worthy substitute for several industrial applications. Natural fibers find their use as reinforcements in light weight products that are meant for improving fuel efficiency in automotive, marine and aviation applications. Continuous efforts are being made to increase the performance of NFRCs to extend their applications. The major drawbacks of NFRC are that the natural fibers have high moisture absorption and weak adhesion with the polymer matrix. Hence, it becomes important to suitably treat the natural fibers in order to have improved properties in the developed composites. newlineIn the reported work, an attempt has been made to investigate the effect of functionalization of the natural fiber namely Luffa Cylindrica (sponge gourd) which is widely being used in cooking, cosmetics and specialty shops as an edible and natural product on the properties of its composite with epoxy matrix. Very few works have been reported in the area of composites exploring this natural fiber. The objective of the work was to chemically modify the surface of luffa cylindrica fibers through silanization in order to enable better interfacial adhesion between the matrix and fiber, thereby enhancing the mechanical, thermal, flammable and machining properties of the luffa fiber incorporated epoxy composites. The entire work has been divided into three parts constituting three chapters of this thesis. newline newline