Potential of alkali treated cornhusk film as reinforcement for epoxy laminate composites

Abstract This work is aimed to explore the potential of cornhusk film (CHF) as reinforcement in the epoxy matrix. The novelty of this work is to develop a laminate composite using alkali treated cornhusk film as it is for reinforcement. Previous reported researches based on cornhusk are primarily focused on production of ethanol from the bio waste or studies related to extraction of fibres from the cornhusk and its subsequent use as the reinforcing agent in composites. Importance of the present work also includes optimization of alkali treatment conditions of CHF in order to achieve better CHF-epoxy interphase and the respective composite properties. Characterization of CHF is carried out by XRD, FTIR, SEM and mechanical properties. Increase in crystallinity and reduction in crystal size of CHF is observed after alkali treatment. XRD and FTIR results reveal that treated CHF is I beta (monoclinic) dominant cellulose. FTIR spectra and SEM images confirm the partial delignification of CHF after alkali treatment. SEM of the fractured surface of composite exhibits improved interphase between matrix and reinforcement. DMA test shows promising result for CHF reinforced composites. Graphic abstract