Experimental studies on biodegradable and swelling characteristics of natural fibers composites

Bharath K.N.¹, Swamy R.P.², Mohan KumarG.C.³*
¹Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, G.M. Institute of Technology, Davangere, Karnataka, India
²Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. B.D.T College of Engineering, Davangere, Karnataka
³Dept of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Suratkal, Karnataka, India
* Corresponding Author : kn.bharath@gmail.com

Received : -     Accepted : -     Published : 15-06-2010
Volume : 2     Issue : 1       Pages : 1 - 4
Int J Agr Sci 2.1 (2010):1-4
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.9735/0975-3710.2.1.1-4

Keywords : Natural fibers, urea formaldehyde resin, hybrid composite, volume fraction
Conflict of Interest : None declared

Natural fibers are gaining the interest of scientists and engineers in packaging, low cost housing and other general applications. In the present study, biodegradable property and swelling properties of different volume fraction of randomly distributed areca fibre and maize powder reinforced urea formaldehyde composites has been investigated. Areca fibres were chemically treated with dilute NaOH solution; composites were prepared by hydraulic hot press at 1400C and 2 MPa of pressure. Composites are cured under ambient conditions for 5 hours. The tests were conducted according to ASTM standards. The degradation involves bond scission reactions in the backbone of polymers, when the original form disappears. The composite absorbs some amount of moisture present in the compost in the early stages and there is an increase in the rate of the reaction between the enzymes secreted by the organism and the polymer chains or additives, which make up the compound. It is a very slow process since the areca fibers and maize powder do not decompose at a faster rate. It has been observed that at the initial stages the specimens shows increase in the weights for nearly one month and then starts loosing its weight showing the biodegradability. In swelling, it absorbs about 30-40 % of its thickness. Compared to conventional woodbased particle board it is very small where water absorption for wood-based particle board is more than 40%. Therefore this experiment shows that the composite made of areca fibers and maize powder have significantly less water absorption.

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