Fibrillation of Coconut Fibers by Mechanical Refining to Enhance Its Reinforcing Potential in Epoxy Composites
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ISSN 1229-9197 (print version) ISSN 1875-0052 (electronic version)
Fibrillation of Coconut Fibers by Mechanical Refining to Enhance Its Reinforcing Potential in Epoxy Composites Thambiannan Senthilkumar, Ashok K Bharimalla, Chandrasekaran Sundaramoorthy, Prashantkumar G Patil, and Nadanathangam Vigneshwaran* ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Adenwala Road, Matunga, Mumbai 400019, India (Received July 17, 2019; Revised January 9, 2020; Accepted January 24, 2020) Abstract: The reinforcing potential of coconut fibers, fibrillated by mechanical refining process, in an epoxy matrix was evaluated. The coconut fiber was fibrillated by a conical refiner for different duration (10 to 40 min) and subjected to chemical compositional analysis, size distribution by microscopy and crystallinity by XRD. The fibrillation by mechanical refining process did not affect the crystallinity of coconut fibers. But, cellulose content increased due to the removal of lignin during refining process. The fibrillated coconut fiber (FCF) was used to reinforce epoxy resin by casting process. The melting temperature, as analyzed by DSC, of epoxy composites increased from 294.75 °C (epoxy alone) to 338.96 °C (raw coconut fiber, RCF) and a maximum of 353.41 °C for 20 min processed FCF reinforced composites. The surface resistivity of epoxy control increased from 1.32 e Ω to 22.6 e Ω after reinforcing with control coconut fiber. But, the fibrillation process reduced the surface resistivity due to uniform distribution of FCF in the epoxy matrix avoiding the formation of air voids. Similar trend was observed for volume resistivity also. The damage force and tensile load increased significantly for the FCF reinforced composites, 61 % and 12 %, respectively, when compared to the RCF reinforced composites. Hence, as an alternative of conventional alkali treatment, fibrillation of coconut fibers could significantly improve the performance of epoxy composites. 10
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Keywords: Coconut fibers, Composites, Epoxy, Fibrillation, Refining
pretreatments in combination with wetting agent like Tween 80 is used [6]. Another study reported the use of pressurized alkali pre-treatment of green coconut fibers for increased production of fermentable sugars [7]. In case of matured coconut fibers, pre-treatment with acidified aqueous glycerol (10 %) at 130 °C improved the ethanol yield by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process [8]. Another work reported the process of softening, grinding, drying and sieving of coconut fibers for production of better performing panel board along with recycled PET bottles [9]. For better interface interaction and improved dispersion of fillers in matrix, though the production of nano-fibrillated biomass is an ideal process, their production is technically demanding, tedious and time-consuming [10]. Earlier, researchers focused on the effect of reinforcing coconut fiber length [11] and coconut particles [12] in the epoxy matrix. The coconut fiber is lignocellulosic in nature and its length is in the
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