Sanseviera trifasciata commonly called mother-in-law tongue also known as snake plant is native to Indonesia, India and Africa. Sansevieria is a new fiber in composite research and has showed promising properties as reinforcement material in polymer matrix composites. Chemical treatment on reinforcing fiber is crucial to reduce hydrophilic tendency and thus improve compatibility with the matrix. In this study, effect of maleic anhydride as chemical treatment on the mechanical properties of Sansevieria fiber/vinyl ester composite was investigated. Sansevieria fibers were immersed by using NaOH 3% for two hours at 100°C and then treated by using maleic anhydrate for two hours at 120°C. Composites were prepared by solution casting with various volume fractions of fiber; 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%. Actual density, volume fraction of void and mechanical properties of composite were conducted according to ASTM standard testing methods D792, D3171 and D3039. It was found that mechanical properties of composites increased as volume fractions of fiber was increased. The highest tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of composites were 57.45 MPa and 3.47 GPa respectively, obtained from composites with volume fraction of fiber 10%.

1.
B.
Smoljan
,
N.
Tomasic
, and
S.
Smokvina
, “
Composites in manufacturing of vehicle
11th International Scientific Conference
.
2.
Department of Defense
, “
Composite materials handbook
”,
(MIL-HDBK-17-2F, 2002), Volume 2
.
3.
H.
Dodiuk
and
S. H.
Goodman
, “Handbook of thermoset plastic (3rd edition)”, (
Elsevier Inc
,
2014
).
4.
A.R.
Bunsell
, “Fundamentals of fiber reinforced composite materials”, (
IOP Publishing Ltd
,
UK
,
2005
).
5.
M.
Zampaloni
 et.al., “
Kenaf natural fiber reinforced polypropylene composites: A discussion on manufacturing problems and solutions
”,
Composites: Part A
38
(
2007
)
1569
1580H
.
6.
Mardiyati
 et.al., “
Effects of Alkali Treatment on The Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Sansevieria trifasciata Fiber
”,
AIP Conf. Proc.
1725
,
020043-1
020043-5
(
2015
).
7.
A. K.
Mohanty
and
M.
Misra
,
L. T.
Drzal
, “Natural fibers, biopolymers, and biocomposites”, (
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group
,
2005
).
8.
N.
Saba
 et.al., “
A review on dynamic mechanical properties of natural fibre reinforced polymer composites
”,
Construction and Building Materials
106
(
2016
), pp.
149
159
.
9.
A. K.
Bledzki
 et.al., “
Polypropylene biocomposites reinforced with softwood, abaca, jute, and kenaf fibers
”,
Industrial Crops and Products
70
(
2015
), pp.
91
99
.
10.
K.L.
Pickering
and
M.G. Aruan
Efendy
, “
A review of recent developments in natural fibre composites and their mechanical performance
”,
Composites: Part A
83
(
2016
), pp.
98
112
11.
A. El.
Sabbagh
, “
Effect of coupling agent on natural fibre in natural fibre/polypropylene composites on mechanical and thermal behavior
”,
Composites Part B
57
(
2014
), pp.
126
135
.
12.
I.
Ben Armor
 et.al., “
Effect of Maleic Anhydride on Dielectric Properties of Natural Fiber Composite
”,
Journal of Electrostatics
72
(
2014
), pp.
156
160
This content is only available via PDF.