Author(s)

K. Takemura, Y. Takada & H. Katogi

Abstract

In this study, effects of surface treatment on tensile and flexural creep properties of jute fiber reinforced composite were investigated. The reinforcement was plain woven jute fiber cloth and matrix was polylactic acid (PLA). The jute fiber cloth and PLA are naturally-derived materials. So, the jute fiber reinforced composites have a poor interfacial adhesion. Therefore, the silane coupling agent treatment was used to improve the interfacial adhesion. The alkoxy group of silane is hydrolyzed and changed by silanol group (Si-OH). And interface adhesion improvement is expected by covalent bond with the hydroxyl group of the jute fiber surface. As a result, the interfacial adhesion between jute fiber and matrix was improved by the silane treatment, and the tensile and flexural creep strains of composite decreased. The creep compliance of composite was improved by using silane treated jute fiber except for flexural creep compliance at high temperature. Keywords: natural fiber, PLA, silane coupling agent, creep, surface treatment. 1 Introduction Glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) have high specific strength, stiffness and corrosion resistance. GFRP has been used for bathtub, marine applications and so on. GFRP has an environmental problem about waste disposal after use. However, GFRP generates CO2 at disposal processing. In order to solve this environmental problem, new composite materials were required instead of GFRP．Recently, the researches on natural fiber reinforced plastic (NFRP) that combines the natural fibers and biodegradable polymer were actively conducted [1–4].

Keywords

natural fiber, PLA, silane coupling agent, creep, surface treatment.