Mechanical and Viscoelastic Properties of Soybean Oil Thermoset Reinforced with Jute Fabrics and Carded Lyocell Fiber

Composites and hybrid composites were manufactured from renewable materials based on jute fibers, regenerated cellulose fibers (Lyocell), and thermosetting polymer from soybean oil. Three different types of jute fabrics with biaxial weave architecture but different surface weights, and carded Lyocell fiber were used as reinforcements. Hybrid composites were also manufactured by combining the jute reinforcements with the Lyocell. The Lyocell composite was found to have better mechanical properties than other composites. It has tensile strength and modulus of about 144 MPa and 18 GPa, respectively. The jute composites also have relatively good mechanical properties, as their tensile strengths and moduli were found to be between 65 and 84 MPa, and between 14 and 19 GPa, respectively. The Lyocell-reinforced composite showed the highest flexural strength and modulus, of about 217 MPa and 13 GPa, respectively. In all cases, the hybrid composites in this study showed improved mechanical properties but lower storage modulus. The Lyocell fiber gave the highest impact strength of about 35 kJ/mw(2), which could be a result of its morphology. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the Lyocell reinforced composite has the best viscoelastic properties. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 122:2855-2863, 2011