Tensile behaviour of chemical treatment for bamboo epoxy composites

Abstract

Previous studies proved that mechanical properties of natural fibres reinforced polymer composites are excellent and competent to be utilised in high-tech applications. In contrast, the presence of chemical constituents such as cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose and wax substances in natural fibres preventing them from firmly bind with the polymeric resin and thus, resulted in poor mechanical properties of composites. To overcome this defect, modification of fibre surface was done by chemical treatment. In this study, the effect of 1 %, 2 % and 3 % concentration of sodium hydroxide solution on tensile behaviour of the bamboo reinforced epoxy composite was studied. The result showed that treatment with highest studied concentration significantly influenced the tensile properties of the composite. Thus, indicates that the treatment has done excellent work in modifying the surface of bamboo fibre for better adhesion with epoxy matrix.