Comparisonal Study of Succinylation and Phthalicylation of Jute Fibres: Study of Mechanical Properties of Modified Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Gone are those days when usage of synthetic materials was found revolutionary. In the present scenario, industries face a tough challenge to find natural substitutes for synthesized materials to reduce non-biodegradable wastes and environmental pollution levels. Thus natural fibres are utilized as the reinforcement material. Modification of some plant fibres such as kenaf with anhydrides was already reported. In the present study, Jute fibres have been modified chemically by treatment with succinic anhydride and phthalic anhydride at different concentrations of 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% by retting method. The various retention times of 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48hours were maintained during both succinylation and phthalicylation. The structural and morphological analyses of the modified fibres in both the cases were done with Infrared Spectroscopy. The degree of modification increases with increase in retention time, but higher retention time damaged the fibre structure which is common in both the cases. The unmodified fibre, succinylated fibre and phthalicylated fibres at different retention times are reinforced with epoxy matrix at various volume fractions of fibre under room temperature. The composite made using unmodified fibre is used as a standard material. The mechanical properties of the composites are analyzed in detail. Among these, the composite made with phthalicylated fibre has shown good flexural properties when compared to the other since phthalic anhydride has good plasticizing property when compared to succinic anhydride. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.