Tensile Properties and Morphology Study of Polymeric Biocomposite

Polymeric bio-composite is a material formed using a polymeric matrix (resin) and a reinforcement of natural fibers which are usually derived from plants or cellulose. The objective of current research is to investigate the tensile properties of unsaturated polyester/kenaf by using the resin infusion process (RIP) in comparison with hand lay up method (HL). The effects of alkali treatment to the tensile properties of composite also were investigated. Besides, the interphase and interfacial bonding of the bio-composite especially the fracture surface of the composite will be analyzed by using SEM. The composite were fabricated by using resin infusion process and hand lay up method. The fibers were treated with different concentration and soaking time of sodium hydroxide. After that, the samples were prepared for tensile test (ASTM D638-1). According to thefindings, it was obserred that the optimum concentration and soaking timefor composite was 6% and 12 hours. This is because in both processes (RlP and HL), the tensile strength were 90.808 MPa (RIP) and 71.217 MPa (HL) which was the highest compared to other concentration and soaking time. This was clarified further by the SEM where show smaller degree of fiber pulls out and rough surface fibers. Lastly, the tensile properties of RIP were better than HL no matter in treated or untreated composites because the results such as tensile strength, Young s modulus and maximum strain shown that the valuewas higher than HL in overall.