Tensile Properties of Successive Alkali Treated Short Jute Fiber Reinforced PLA Composites

The natural fiber reinforced biodegradable polymer composites were prepared with short jute fiber as reinforcement and PLA as matrix. The short jute fiber is successively treated with NaOH at various concentrations (5%, 10% and 15%) and with H2O2. The composites were prepared with various weight proportions (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% & 25%) of untreated and treated jute fibers in PLA matrix. The effect of fiber loading and concentration of alkali treatment on mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. The results showed that the tensile properties of composites with successive treated fiber at higher fibre loading were better than those of composites with untreated fiber. The composite with successively treated jute fibre at 10% NaOH and H2O2 with 20% fiber loading has shown 7.5% increase in tensile strength than that of neat PLA and untreated jute/PLA composite. The tensile modulus of composite with 10% NaOH/H2O2 treated fibers at higher fibre loading was 125% and 40% higher than that of neat PLA and untreated fiber/PLA composite respectively. Surface morphologies of fractured surfaces of the composites were studied using SEM method.