Manufacturing and characterization of betel nut and glass fiber reinforced hybrid polyethylene composites

Abstract

In the present work, hybrid composites were manufactured by using hot press machine incorporating at four levels of fiber loading (5, 10, 15 and 20%) with fiber ratios of (betel nut: glass=1:1) in polyethylene matrix. Composites were also prepared with betel nut and glass ratio 1:3 and 3:1 for 20% fiber loading. Subsequently, betel nut fiber was alkali treated by 5% NaOH and composites were prepared for treated betel nut and glass at a ratio of 1:3 and also by addition of nano-filler such as TiO2 and zeolite nano-powder (2phr) for betel nut and glass ratio 1:3. The tensile, flexural, impact and hardness tests were conducted for mechanical characterization of composites. Tensile strength was decreased and young’s modulus was increased with fiber loading. On the other hand, all the values of flexural strength, modulus and hardness were increased with fiber loading and filler addition. Interestingly, % elongation at break showed a decreasing trend with the amount of fiber content and filler addition in the composites. Furthermore, impact strength increased with fiber loading and filler content decreased as the glass fiber percentages increased. Notably, mechanical properties enhanced with increasing glass fiber content but incorporation of betel nut fiber with it makes the composite environmentally viable and less expensive. In addition, 5% NaOH treatment of the betel nut fiber provided an improving trend of properties of the composites. However, TiO2nano-powder addition makes the properties best among all composites. The Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was carried out of the composites to study the effect of alkali treatment which showed decrease of hemicelluloses content and also for the presence ofnano-filler. Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) imaging of tensile fracture surfaces of all the composites were carried out to examine the variation in failure modes and to investigate the interfacial adhesion and bonding between fiber and PE matrix, the composite containing titanium nano-powder showed favorable entanglement between fiber and matrix. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) showed slight enhancement of thermal stability after alkali treatment.