Fabrication and Surface Modified Non-woven Calotropis gigantea Fiber Mat Reinforced Polypropylene Composites by Film Stacking Method

Abstract

Nowadays, there is a growing environmental consciousness and awareness about the need for sustainable development, which has led to growing interest in using natural fibers as reinforcement in polymer composites for synthetic fiber substitution. The current work deals with the effects of Calotropis gigantea fiber (CGF) content and chemical modification of CGF mats by treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and SDS-pretreated benzoyl chloride on the fundamental properties of CGF-filled polypropylene (PP) composites were investigated. Different percentages (10–40 wt.%) of CGF content were used to gain insight into the effects of CGF content on composite properties. PP/CGF composites were made by hot compression molding using film stacking method, the properties of the composites were tested by physicomechanical, morphological and weather tests. Physicomechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, impact strength, hardness, and water desorption of the PP/CGF composites increased as CGF content increased. PP/CGF composites with benzoyl chloride after SDS pretreatment indicate better mechanical properties than SDS-treated and SDS-untreated CGF composites. The interface features were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and it was performed that the treatment of CGFs resulted in improved interfacial interaction between PP and CGF, which verified the obtained mechanical properties of the composites. Water absorption tests have shown that SDS-pretreated benzoyl chloride treated CGF composites showed lower water absorption than both SDS-treated and SDS-untreated composites. Weather tests have shown that SDS-pretreated benzoyl chloride treated composites exhibited less loss of tensile strength and tensile modulus compared to both SDS-treated and SDS-untreated composites in terms of their corrosion time.