Kenaf reinforced biodegradable composite

Mechanical properties of environmentally friendly composite made of kenaf fibre and poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) resin was investigated. Youngʹs modulus (6.3 GPa) and the tensile strength (62 MPa) of the kenaf/PLLA composite (fibre content=70 vol.%) were comparable to those of traditional composites. These properties were higher than those of the kenaf sheet and the PLLA film themselves. This is considered to attribute to the strong interaction between the kenaf fibre and PLLA. In addition, the storage modulus of the composite remain unchanged up to the melting point of PLLA. The effects of the molecular weight of PLLA, the orientation of the kenaf fibres in the sheet on the mechanical properties of the composite were also investigated. It was found that kenaf fibre can be a good candidate for the reinforcement fibre of high performance biodegradable polymer composites.