Hygrothermal effect on henequen or silk fiber reinforced poly(butylene succinate) biocomposites

The hygrothermal effect of poly(butylene succinate) biocomposites reinforced with silk or henequen fibers was investigated. The biocomposites were fabricated using a compression molding method. The biocomposites were maintained in the chamber at 60 degrees C and 85% RH for 1000 h. The results show that the degradation of PBS matrix is the main cause for the deterioration of biocomposites performance and the biocomposites degraded much slowly than PBS matrix did. The storage modulus for the biocomposites exposed at 60 degrees C and 85% RH for 1000 h was decreased 20% and 50% with the silk and henequen fibers comparing to the original specimens, respectively. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.