Investigations on jute fibre-reinforced polyester composites: Effect of alkali treatment and poly(lactic acid) coating

The aim of the present investigation is to overcome the limitations of jute fibre-reinforced polyester composite. The jute fibre-reinforced polyester composites were prepared by hand lay-up technique followed by static compression using constant fibres length 15 mm and constant fibres loading 16 wt.%. In the present work, treated jute fibres consisted of alkali treated, poly(lactic acid)-coated and alkali-treated coated with poly(lactic acid). Mechanical properties in terms of tensile, flexural and impact test, and dynamic mechanical properties in terms of storage modulus (E'), loss modulus (E ''), damping (tan delta) and glass transition temperature (Tg)of prepared composites were studied. In addition, water absorption properties in terms of percentage of water uptake and sorption, diffusion and permeability coefficient were also studied. In addition, morphological analysis of untreated and treated jute fibres and its polyester based composites was also carried out using scanning electron microscope. The results suggested that the limitations of jute fibre-reinforced polyester composites were significantly reduced after the treatment of fibres. The composite with alkali-treated jute fibres coated with poly(lactic acid) exhibited the best performance in terms of improvement in mechanical, dynamic mechanical and water resistance properties. The results obtained from present study show a successful attempt of a novel treatment.