Chopped industrial hemp fiber reinforced cellulosic plastic biocomposites: thermomechanical and morphological properties
Date
2004-08Type
ArticleAuthor
Mohanty, Amar K
Arief C, Wibowo
Misra, Manjusri
ETAL..
Metadata
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Biocomposites, i.e., biopolymers reinforced with natural fibers, offer an environmentally benign alternative structural material for automotive applications. Cellulose esters (bioplastic made from cellulose) are potentially useful biosourced polymers. By embedding inexpensive plant-based cellulosic fibers (chopped hemp fiber) into a biopolymeric matrix (cellulose ester) novel biocomposites have been made utilizing two different processing approaches: powder impregnation (process I) and extrusion followed by injection molding (process II). The resulting biocomposites have been evaluated for their physicomechanical and thermomechanical properties. Cellulose acetate plasticized with 30% citrate plasticizer proved to be a better matrix compared to polypropylene (PP) for hemp fiber reinforcements in terms of flexural and damping properties. Biocomposites with 30 wt % of industrial hemp fiber processed through extrusion and injection molding exhibited a flexural strength of ∼78 MPa and modulus of elasticity of ∼5.6 GPa. Cellulose acetate butyrate plastic (CABP) proved to be a better matrix than plasticized cellulose acetate (CAP) for biocomposite applications. The fiber−matrix adhesions are evaluated through environmental scanning microscopy (ESEM) analysis.