Experimental studies on biodegradable and swelling characteristics of natural fibers composites

Natural fibers are gaining the interest of scientists and engineers in packaging, low cost housingand other general applications. In the present study, biodegradable property and swelling properties ofdifferent volume fraction of randomly distributed areca fibre and maize powder reinforced urea formaldehydecomposites has been investigated. Areca fibres were chemically treated with dilute NaOH solution; composites were prepared by hydraulic hot press at 1400C and 2 MPa of pressure. Composites are curedunder ambient conditions for 5 hours. The tests were conducted according to ASTM standards. Thedegradation involves bond scission reactions in the backbone of polymers, when the original formdisappears. The composite absorbs some amount of moisture present in the compost in the early stagesand there is an increase in the rate of the reaction between the enzymes secreted by the organism and thepolymer chains or additives, which make up the compound. It is a very slow process since the areca fibersand maize powder do not decompose at a faster rate. It has been observed that at the initial stages thespecimens shows increase in the weights for nearly one month and then starts loosing its weight showingthe biodegradability. In swelling, it absorbs about 30-40 % of its thickness. Compared to conventional woodbasedparticle board it is very small where water absorption for wood-based particle board is more than40%. Therefore this experiment shows that the composite made of areca fibers and maize powder havesignificantly less water absorption