Abstract:
Natural fiber reinforced composites have been an emerging area now-a-days in the field of
polymer science. The adverse effects of hydrophilic nature of natural fibers on their adhesion
to hydrophobic polymer matrices is one of the important issues to be resolved. To achieve this
goal with a view to improving the compatibility between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic
components, a new approach of chemical modification of jute fabrics has been proposed and
adopted. First, chemical modifications of plain jute fabrics with some cationic agents, such as
Albafix WFF (poly- diallyl- dimethylammonium chloride), Glytac (Glycidyl trimethyl ammonium
chloride), and Indosol-E50 (polyethylene polyamine) in the presence and absence of reactive
dye (Drimarene Red K-8b) with or without sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, and sodium
hydroxide have been performed following 23 different procedures. Besides, two other
conventional treatment procedures were employed to modify the same fabrics for comparing
with new approaches. All the treated plain jute fabrics were characterized in terms of water
absorbency, FTIR spectra, color measurement, wash fastness, and tensile strength. Mechanical
behavior, thermal behavior, surface morphology, and water uptake properties of plain jute
fabrics polypropylene composites were evaluated from which the most effective treatment
procedure was selected. Then, twill, single jersey, and rib jute fabrics were treated with this
treatment procedure. Both treated and untreated jute fabrics of different structures were
characterized and analyzed. PP composites of both treated and untreated fabrics of different
structures were fabricated and evaluated. Plain jute fabrics treated with the mixture of Albafix
WFF and sodium hydroxide and dyed with reactive dye only had 125% higher exhaustion, 95%
higher dye uptake and better wash fastness than that of normal dyed jute fabrics. Composites
of plain jute fabrics treated with the mixture of Albafix WFF and sodium hydroxide and again
dyed with Drimarene Red K8b in the presence of NaCl and Na2CO3 had 109% higher tensile
strength than that of the composites of untreated fabrics and 88% higher than that of the
composites of NaOH treated fabrics. Also, these composites exhibited 49% lower water uptake
value than that of untreated jute fabrics PP composites and 28% lower uptake than that of
NaOH treated fabrics PP composites. Composites of untreated twill fabrics had 40% higher
tensile strength than the composites of untreated plain fabrics. Composites of untreated rib
had 58% lower water uptake than that of untreated plain fabric composites.
