Characterization of mucuna atropurpurea fibers as an reinforcement in fibre reinforced plastics

Abstract

The demand for environmentally friendly products is growing due to newlinethe imposition of new environmental laws. Various sectors, namely domestic, newlineelectrical, military, automotive, etc., heavily use non-biodegradable materials, newlinenamely artificial fiber-reinforced plastics. So, it is essential to find an alternate newlinematerial with a biodegradable nature for synthetic fiber-reinforced plastics newlinewithout compromising their needed properties. Cellulosic fiber-reinforced newlinecomposites are an alternative to synthetic fiber-reinforced plastics because they newlineare partly biodegradable and possess equivalent mechanical and thermal newlineproperties. Many plants yield fibers from different parts like leaves, stalks, bark, newlineaerial roots, etc., but all the plant fibers cannot be used as reinforcement in newlinefiber-reinforced plastics. So, it is essential to verify the fitness of the novel plant newlinefiber before consuming it as reinforcement. newlineIn this research, a new plant fiber is obtained from the stems of the newlineMucuna atropurpurea plant through biological retting. Physical properties of the newlineraw Mucuna Atropurpurea Fiber (MAF), namely diameter (289±21µm) and newlinedensity (1082± 29 kg/m3 newline), quantified via optical microscope and pycnometer, newlinerespectively. The quantity of various chemical compositions in the raw MAF is newlinequantified through standard methods. A higher amount of crystalline fraction in newlinethe raw MAF was recognized through cellulose fraction (58.74±5.74 wt.%) in newlinethe MAF, whereas amorphous fraction like hemicellulose (16.31±3.21 wt.%), newlinewax (0.38±0.08 wt.%) and lignin (14.22±3.36) fraction are comparatively lower. newlineThe Crystalline Size (CS) of the MAF was resolute as 2.75 nm via X-ray newlinediffraction analysis related to the water absorption behavior. newline