Influence of physical modification on Indian originated areca fiber based polypropylene composites: Mechanical and dielectric properties characterization

Natural fiber based composite is one of the emerging materials which is being evolved in the recent past for the general applications. This is because of the abundant availability of natural fibers which are less expensive. The main advantage of natural fibers is low density, low cost, biodegradability, acceptable specific properties, less wear during extraction and during the preparation of composites. This research primarily focuses on the study of interfacial bonding between fiber and polypropylene, characterization of mechanical properties (tensile, compression, hardness) and dielectric properties of composites by reinforcing polypropylene with randomly distributed areca fibers. The extracted areca fibers were Ultraviolet treated to get better interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. The test samples have been prepared as per ASTM standards for plain polypropylene, polypropylene-areca fiber (untreated) and polypropylene-areca fiber (UV Treated) composites using injection moulding technique. Different fiber weight loading fractions (10%, 20%, 30%, & 40%) have been used to prepare test samples. The test samples have then been characterized for mechanical properties-tensile strength, compression strength, flexural strength, impact strength, tensile modulus and flexural modulus, as well as for hardness and dielectric strength. The mechanical properties and dielectric strength were compared between the polypropylene reinforced with untreated areca fiber composites and polypropylene reinforced with UV treated areca fiber composites for different percentage of fiber loading.