Study mechanical, swelling and dielectric properties of prehydrolysed banana fiber - Waste polyurethane foam composites

Untreated and treated banana fiber by maleic anhydride together with waste polyurethane foam were used to produce composites. Treated banana fiber reduces swelling and improve strength and dielectric properties. Also, addition of aluminum silicate exhibited enhancements in its dielectric properties at constant concentration lower than 10%. While, abrupt increase can be seen in the dielectric constant (epsilon') and dielectric loss (epsilon '') for samples contain more than 7.5% aluminum silicate. I.R and scanning electron microscope were studied. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.