Influence of chemical treatment on surface morphology of natural fiber

Abstract

The interest in using natural fibers in composites has increased in recent years due their lightweight, non-abrasive, combustible, non-toxic, low cost and biodegradable properties. However, lack of good interfacial adhesion, low melting point and poor resistance to moisture absorption make the use of natural fiber reinforced composites less attractive. Chemical treatment of the fiber can clean the fiber surface, chemically modify the surface, stop the moisture absorption process and increase the surface roughness. In their study, banana and coconut fibers, for use in fiber-reinforced composites, were modified using NaOH of different concentrations. Morphological and structural changes of the fibers were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A series of fiber bundle tensile test which performed to evaluate the effect of the treatments on the fiber tensile strength. It has been found that the alkalization treatment has improved the mechanical properties of the banana and coconut fiber significantly as compared to untreated banana and coconut fiber. It is also interesting to note that 6% NaOH yields the optimum concentration of NaOH for the chemical treatment.