Effect of Chemical Treatment and Length of Raffia Fiber (Raphia vinifera) on Mechanical Stiffening of Polyester Composites
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Materials
2.2. Processing of Composites
2.3. Tensile Tests
2.4. Statistical Analysis
2.5. Additional Characterization
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Frequency Distribution of Raffia Fiber Dimensions
3.2. Tensile Test of Neat Polyester (Matrix)
3.3. Raffia Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composites
4. Conclusions
- The addition of 1.0 vol% of MEK catalyst into neat polyester resulted in the highest Young’s modulus ~0.86 GPa, which was ~10% higher than polyester with 0.7 vol% of MEK.
- Tensile strength results indicated that the raffia fiber acted only as a filler into the polyester composites, which may be associated with either an unsuitable processing of the composite or weak interfacial fiber/matrix adhesion. In spite of that, an increase in the Young’s moduli of the composites was obtained in comparison with that of the polyester matrix.
- Statistical analyses by ANOVA and the Tukey test confirmed for the first time a stiffening effect caused by 10 wt% raffia fibers with 10 mm in length to the unsaturated polyester matrix composite.
- The tensile results also disclosed the effect of fiber length on the mechanical strength of the composites. The highest tensile strength was reached by the composite with a higher length (15 mm) raffia fiber, in untreated condition, which represented an increase of more than 100% in comparison to the composite with 5 mm (alkali-treated) fiber. All composites with alkali-treated raffia fiber presented similar tensile strength values that, according to ANOVA, are lower than those for the untreated condition.
- SEM analyses revealed the predominance of a failure mechanism associated with weak interfacial adhesion and porosity, even for the composites with alkali-treated raffia fibers.
- FTIR analysis failed to disclose any significant change in the raffia composite transmittance bands, which corroborated the relatively unaltered mechanical properties and weak interfacial fiber/polyester adhesion.
- To date, based on the Scopus metrics, there are very few studies on raffia fiber composites. In addition to confirming a stiffening, the effects of raffia fiber length and treatment in mechanical properties were also disclosed. Hence, this study provides information filling the current knowledge gap of raffia fiber, which aims to valorize this abundant and unexploited Brazilian resource.
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Composite | Manufacturing Process | Condition | Fiber Content | Fiber Length (mm) | Tensile Strength (MPa) | Young’s Modulus | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(GPa) | |||||||
Neat HDPE Matrix | Compression molding at 150 °C | Untreated | 0 wt% | NA * | 30 | 0.31 | [32] |
HDPE/raffia fiber (powder) | 15 wt% | 18 | 0.33 | ||||
30 wt% | 15 | 0.42 | |||||
45 wt% | 13 | 0.60 | |||||
60 wt% | 10 | 0.79 | |||||
Neat HDPE Matrix | Treated with MA-g-PE | 0 wt% | 29 | 0.31 | |||
HDPE/raffia fiber (powder) | 15 wt% | 22 | 0.33 | ||||
30 wt% | 18 | 0.45 | |||||
45 wt% | 15 | 0.62 | |||||
60 wt% | 12 | 0.81 | |||||
Neat Polyester Matrix | Vacuum infusion process | 53.3 kPa | 0 wt% | NA * | 34.36 | NI ** | [33] |
Polyester/raffia fiber (aligned) | 53.3 kPa | 45 vol% | 23.59 ± 5.52 | 2.325 ± 0.180 | |||
101.3 kPa | 40 vol% | 22.97 ± 1.58 | 1.303 ± 0.090 | ||||
Polyester/raffia fabric | 53.3 kPa | 35 vol% | 14.42 ± 0.90 | 1.010 ± 0.059 | |||
101.3 kPa | 43 vol% | 20.27 ± 1.88 | 0.913 ± 0.124 |
Composite | Manufacturing Condition | Fiber Content | Fiber Length (mm) | Tensile Strength (MPa) | Young’s Modulus | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(GPa) | |||||||
Neat Polyester Matrix | Hand lay-up process | 1% MEK | 0 wt% | NA * | 25.18 ± 3.56 | 0.86 ± 0.25 | PW ** |
Polyester/raffia fiber (randomly dispersed) | Untreated | ~10 wt% | 5 | 4.61 ± 1.12 | 1.03 ± 0.15 | ||
Treated | 5 | 4.17 ± 1.02 | 1.15 ± 0.22 | ||||
Untreated | 10 | 6.85 ± 0.59 | 1.07 ± 0.16 | ||||
Treated | 10 | 7.12 ± 1.16 | 1.43 ± 0.11 | ||||
Untreated | 15 | 8.46 ± 1.18 | 1.08 ± 0.29 | ||||
Treated | 15 | 5.36 ± 3.17 | 1.02 ± 0.23 |
ANOVA | Source | Sum of Squares | Degrees of Freedom | Mean of Squares | F (Calculated) | F Critical | p-Value |
Treatment | 0.889 | 6 | 0.148 | 3.405 | 2.445 | 0.012 | |
Residual | 1.218 | 28 | 0.0435 | ||||
Total | 2.107 | 34 | |||||
Tukey Test | Degrees of Freedom (Total) | q (Tabled) | Mean of Squares (Residual) | HSD | |||
28 | 4.49 | 0.04 | 0.42 |
ANOVA | Source | Sum of Squares | Degrees of Freedom | Mean of Squares | F (Calculated) | F Critical | p-Value |
Treatment | 1628.936 | 6 | 271.489 | 67.561 | 2.445 | 2.34 × 10−15 | |
Residual | 112.515 | 28 | 4.018 | ||||
Total | 1741.451 | 34 | |||||
Tukey Test | Degrees of Freedom (Total) | q (Tabled) | Mean of Squares (Residual) | HSD | |||
28 | 4.49 | 4.018407 | 4.025208 |
Material | Wavenumber (cm−1) | Assignment |
---|---|---|
Raffia fiber | 3600–3000 | OH stretching |
2950–2840 | C–Hn stretching | |
1732 | C=O stretching | |
1510–1560 | ||
1650–1630 | C=C (Benzene stretching ring) | |
1462 | O–CH3 | |
1440–1400 | OH bending | |
1402 | CH bending | |
1244 | C–O–C stretching | |
1033 | C–O stretching and C–O deformation | |
700–400 | C–C stretching | |
Raffia/polyester composite | 3600–3400 | O–H stretch |
3060 | Aliphatic C–H stretch | |
3026 | ||
~2936 | ||
1719 | C=O stretch | |
1600 | Aromatic ring stretch | |
1580 | ||
1492 | ||
1453 | CH3 asymmetrical bend | |
1376 | CH3 symmetrical bend | |
1254 | CH2 twist | |
1117 | C–O stretch |
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Oliveira Filho, E.G.d.; Luz, F.S.d.; Fujiyama, R.T.; Silva, A.C.R.d.; Candido, V.S.; Monteiro, S.N. Effect of Chemical Treatment and Length of Raffia Fiber (Raphia vinifera) on Mechanical Stiffening of Polyester Composites. Polymers 2020, 12, 2899. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122899
Oliveira Filho EGd, Luz FSd, Fujiyama RT, Silva ACRd, Candido VS, Monteiro SN. Effect of Chemical Treatment and Length of Raffia Fiber (Raphia vinifera) on Mechanical Stiffening of Polyester Composites. Polymers. 2020; 12(12):2899. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122899
Chicago/Turabian StyleOliveira Filho, Edwillson Gonçalves de, Fernanda Santos da Luz, Roberto Tetsuo Fujiyama, Alisson Clay Rios da Silva, Verônica Scarpini Candido, and Sergio Neves Monteiro. 2020. "Effect of Chemical Treatment and Length of Raffia Fiber (Raphia vinifera) on Mechanical Stiffening of Polyester Composites" Polymers 12, no. 12: 2899. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122899