Development and characterization of banana - fibre reinforced polymar composities.
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Date
2022
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Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University.
Abstract
This study optimized a production process for banana-fibre composite suitable for engineering application, characterized the banana-fibre composites and established the influence of fibre loading and fibre length on the mechanical properties of the composites. This was with a view to developing a new class of environment-friendly natural-fibre reinforced composites suitable for engineering applications.
Banana pseudo stem was collected from a local source from which banana fibres were extracted. Postconsumer PET bottles were obtained from local sources and shredded, washed and oven-dried at 110 oC for 2 hours. The shredded PET bottles were subjected to de-polymerization process via glycolysis in the presence of NaOH as a catalyst. Central composite design was used to generate 26 experimental runs for each mechanical property to be investigated. Fibre length (mm) and fibre content (%) were the two numeric factors considered while alkaline treatment was the categoric factor considered. Hand lay-up technique was used to fabricate the composites, ensuring a horizontal fiber alignment and a unidirectional fiber orientation for all the composites prepared. The polymer composites were left to cure for 24 hours at room temperature after which they were characterized for flexural, tensile and impact strengths. Modelling and optimization of the mechanical properties were carried out using Response surface methodology (RSM). The data obtained for the mechanical properties were fitted as second order equations. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), residual analysis, response surface plots and diagnostic plots were used to
evaluate the validity of the models.The results showed that fibre length and fibre content had a significant impact on the flexural strength, tensile strength and impact strength of banana-fibre reinforced polymer composites. Quadratic models were developed for each of the mechanical tests and they were found to provide a good fit with experimental data. There was an increase in the flexural strength of the banana-fibre reinforced polymer composites as the fibre length increased up to 70 mm and as the fibre content increased up to 40%. However, flexural strength decreased as the fibre length further increased up to 80 mm and as the fibre content further increased up to 50%. Polymer composite with 70 mm fibre length and 40% treated fibre content gave the maximum flexural strength of about 3.6 MPa. There was an increase in the tensile and impact strengths of the banana-fibre reinforced polymer composites as the fibre length increased up to 50 mm and as the fibre content increased up to 40%. However, as the fibre length further increased up to 60 mm and as the fibre content further increased up to 50%, the tensile and impact strengths decreased. Polymer composite with
50 mm fibre length and 40% fibre content gave the maximum tensile strength of about
0.765 MPa and maximum impact strength of 9.99 J.
The findings of this study showed that development and characterization of banana-fibre reinforced polymer composite could be achieved. Also, varying the fibre length and fibre content of natural-fibre reinforced polymer composites would improve their mechanical properties.
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xvii, 104p
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Citation
Ilesanmi, O.J. (2022). Development and characterization of banana - f ibre reinforced polymar composities. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University.