Effect of Surface Modification of Jute with Acrylic Monomers on the Performance of Polypropylene Composites

Jute fabrics reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites (40% fiber by weight) are prepared using compression molding. Different formulations using oligomer urethane diacrylate (M-1100), monomers 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (EHA), 1-vinyl 2-pyrrolidone (NVP), and photo-initiator (Irgacure-369) in methanol were prepared in order to modify the surface of jute fabrics. Jute fabrics are soaked in the prepared formulations and then cured by UV radiation source of varying intensities. The formulation containing 5% NVP, 5% EHA, 2.5% oligomer, and 2% photo-initiator and cured at 15 UV passes perform the highest mechanical properties. Tensile strength (TS), bending strength (BS), tensile modulus (TM), and bending modulus (BM) of the composites are found to be 54, 62, 915, and 2030 MPa, respectively. To investigate the effect of thermal initiator, benzyl peroxide is used in the optimized formulation instead of the Irgacure-369 photo-initiator. The TS, BS, TM, and BM of the composites are found to be 54, 63, 998, and 2150 MPa, respectively by treating jute with 2% benzoyl peroxide as the thermal initiator.