Title
Mechanical properties of uniaxial natural fabric Grewia tilifolia reinforced epoxy based composites: Effects of chemical treatment
Date Issued
01 January 2014
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Jayaramudu J.
Reddy G.S.M.
Sadiku E.R.
Ray S.S.
Rajulu A.V.
Tshwane University of Technology
Publisher(s)
Korean Fiber Society
Abstract
The effects of chemical treatment on the mechanical, morphological, and chemical resistance properties of uniaxial natural fabrics, Grewia tilifolia/epoxy composites, were studied. In order to enhance the interfacial bonding between the epoxy matrix and the Grewia tilifolia fabrics, two different types of treatment: alkali treatment (5 % NaOH) and (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane coupling agent (CA), were used. The epoxy composites containing 0-15 wt% of Grewia tilifolia fabric were prepared by hand lay-up technique, at room temperature. The tensile and flexural properties of the untreated, alkali-treated and coupling agent treated Grewia tilifolia reinforced epoxy composites were determined as a function of fabric loading. The 9 % wt Grewia tilifolia fabric reinforced epoxy composites showed improved tensile and flexural modulii when compared to the neat epoxy matrix. Significant improvement in the mechanical properties was obtained when both alkali and coupling agent treated fabrics were used as reinforcement. Morphological studies demonstrated that better adhesion between the fabrics and the matrix was achieved especially when the alkali-treated and coupling agent treated Grewia tilifolia fabrics were used in the composites. For the water absorption and chemical resistance studies, various solvents, acids and alkalis were used on the epoxy composites. This study has shown that Grewia tilifolia fabric/epoxy composites are promising candidates for structural applications, where high strength and stiffness are required. © 2014 The Korean Fiber Society and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Start page
1462
End page
1468
Volume
15
Issue
7
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencia de los polímeros
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84905017689
Source
Fibers and Polymers
ISSN of the container
12299197
Sponsor(s)
Department of Polymer Technology, Tshwane University of Technology, CSIR Campus, Pretoria, South Africa 1DST/CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, National Centre for Nano-Structured Materials, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 2Department of Polymer Science and Technology, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur 515003, India (Received August 13, 2012; Revised January 8, 2013; Accepted January 12, 2013) JJR, GSMR and KVP wish to acknowledge Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, and the National Centre for Nano-Structured Materials, CSIR, Pretoria, the for their supports. The author AVR thanks the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India for the award of an Emeritus Scientist, Scheme [21(0842)11/EMR-II dt: 10-05-2011].
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus