Structural Studies on Glass Fiber Reinforced Poly-styrene Composites

Abstract

Polymers are used in various industries and majorly in aerospace and automobile industry where in fuel efficiency is a big challenge. Polymers are lightweight hence by volume they make up 50% of a new vehicle but by weight it is less than 10%. Current economic and environmental concerns make the creation of more fuel-efficient cars a top priority in the automotive industry. Hence the study of these polymers becomes very essential. This research work studies the effect of Glass fiber reinforcement on Poly-styrene polymer. Glass fibers are added to a composition of 1%, 5% and 10% by weight of polystyrene. The structural characterization of the composites is done by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). FTIR study of the composite show that the glass fiber used was E-glass fiber which is confirmed by the presence of silicon and boron. Furthermore, the appearance of peaks in FTIR signifying the presence of C-H wagging and shift of mono-substituted benzene, confirms of good bonding between the glassfibers and the poly-styrene matrix. The amorphous nature of the glass fiber reinforced poly-styrene composites was verified by the XRD analysis as confirmed by the appearance of a hump. This indicates that there is only mechanical bonding between the GF and poly-styrene fabricated for present study.