Abstract
Natural cellulosic pine needles were used in long fiber form as a new, potential reinforcement to fabricate green composites using the compression-molding technique. Mechanical and physico-chemical properties of green composites have been investigated as a function of fiber loading in order to assess their applicability in everyday life. The green composites fabricated showed a universal trend of increase in properties with fiber loading up to 30% and beyond this loading these properties decrease. Fiber/matrix interaction between the polymer and reinforcement has been analyzed from the mechanical and morphological studies, which reveal the impact of good interfacial compatibility.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank their institutes for providing the necessary facilities to accomplish the present research work.