Investigation of Mechanical and Thermomechanical Properties of Nanocellulose Coated Jute/Green Epoxy Composites
Date
2018
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Abstract
The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of nanocellulose coating on the mechanical and thermomechanical properties of jute/green epoxy composites. Cellulose was purified from waste jute fibers, converted to nanocellulose by acid hydrolysis and subsequently 3, 5 and 10 wt% of nanocellulose suspensions were coated over woven jute reinforcement. The composites were prepared by hand layup and compression molding technique. The surface topologies of treated jute fibers, jute cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), nanocellulose coated jute fabrics and fractured surfaces of composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared composites were evaluated for tensile, flexural, fatigue, fracture toughness and dynamic mechanical properties. The results revealed the improvement in tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, fatigue life and fracture toughness of composites with the increase in concentration of nanocellulose coating over jute reinforcement except the decrease in tensile strength. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results also showed the increase in storage modulus and reduction in tangent delta peak height of nanocellulose coated jute composites.
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Subject(s)
Jute fibers, Nanocellulose coating, Mechanical properties, Fracture toughness, Dynamic mechanical analysis