Assessment of the physical properties of banana pseudo stem/ABS composites

Abstract

The physical properties of Banana Pseudo Stem (BPS) reinforced Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) composites with different fiber weight percentages were studied. BPS fibers were pretreated by using Sodium hydroxide solution with 5% concentration for 24 hours. ABS/BPS composites were prepared with 0, 10, 20 and 30 wt. % fibers. The Moisture Content (MC %) and Water Absorption (WA %) for BPS fiber were studied. The water absorption (WA %) and Thickness Swelling (TS %) of the composites were investigated. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation for fracture surfaces was also studied. The Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analyses were used to measure the thermal stability and glass transition temperature (Tg) of BPS/ABS composites. Moreover, the melt flow index (MFI) and dimensional stability tests for the composites were studied.