Response of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites when subjected to various environments

The last two decades have witnessed considerable progress in the use of bio-composites. There has been an increase in the global interest in the development of natural fiber reinforced composites. Nowadays, natural fiber reinforced polymer composites are being used in variety of applications, because of the attractive characteristics of being renewable, affordable, recyclable and as well as eco-friendly and biodegradable. Environmental behavior of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites upon exposure to various practical conditions is an important issue before proposing their use in outdoor applications. In the current experimental endeavor, plain-woven natural (hemp, jute, sisal) fabric reinforced polypropylene composites were fabricated using a compression moulding process. Thermal analysis has been utilized to fully understand the mechanical behaviour of developed composites. Effect of environmental aging on tensile and flexural behaviour of the fabricated composites has been investigated by exposing the specimens for 3 months under different conditions (drinking water, alkali solution, petrol-oil, industrial liquid waste and peanut-edible oil). The tensile and flexural properties were tested using computerized UTM machine as per the ASTM standards. The stero-microscope and field-emission scanning electron microscope has also been utilized to analyze the surface morphology of the fractures specimens under tensile loading. The results revealed that, the mechanical properties of polypropylene based composites are significantly influenced on account of the exposure to different environmental conditions.