Alkali Treatment Influence on Characterization of Setaria Italic (Foxtail Millet) Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Vacuum Bagging

ABSTRACT

Natural fiber polymer composites have broad interest in recent times due to low cost and superior mechanical properties. The present study deals with Setaria italic (Foxtail millet) fiber reinforced Lapox L-12 resin polymer composite fabricated by vacuum bagging method. The work examined the differences of NaOH alkali-treated (5% and 10% concentration) and untreated fibers with different weight ratios (10%, 15%, and 20%) of fibers. Mechanical properties of the prepared discrete polymer composite materials were analyzed. The alkali treatment behavior of Setaria italic fiber was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). An increase in 35.1%, 8.6%, and 6% for tensile, flexural, and impact strength, respectively, were observed for 20 wt% reinforced composites with 10% NaOH treatment when compared to untreated composites. From TGA, it was concluded that residue content of the samples were observed to be 15%, 10%, and 7% for untreated, 5% NaOH-treated and 10% NaOH-treated samples, respectively. Based on the acquired results, it was concluded that alkali-treated Setaria italic (Foxtail millet) fiber reinforced epoxy composites can be a resourceful substitute in construction and building applications.

抽象

天然纤维-聚合物复合材料因其成本低、力学性能优越而受到广泛关注. 采用真空袋法制备了狗尾草纤维增强lapoxl12树脂聚合物复合材料. 研究了NaOH碱处理（5%和10%浓度）与未处理纤维在不同重量比（10%、15%和20%）下的差异. 分析了制备的离散聚合物复合材料的力学性能. 采用扫描电镜（SEM）、热重分析（TGA）和傅立叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）对狗尾草纤维的碱处理行为进行了分析. 与未处理的复合材料相比，经10%NaOH处理的20wt%增强复合材料的拉伸、弯曲和冲击强度分别提高了35.1%、8.6%和6%. 热重分析表明，未处理、5%NaOH处理和10%NaOH处理样品的残留量分别为15%、10%和7%. 结果表明，碱处理狗尾草纤维增强环氧树脂复合材料是一种资源丰富的建筑和建筑材料替代品.

KEYWORDS:

• Setaria italic
• vacuum bagging
• TGA
• SEM
• FTIR
• mechanical properties

关键词:

• 狗尾草
• 真空套袋
• 力学性能