Influence of alkali treatment and dune sand content on the properties of date palm fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester hybrid composites

Abstract

The effects of alkali treatment and dune sand (DS) addition on the mechanical, morphological, thermal and water absorption behavior of date palm fiber (DPF) reinforced unsaturated polyester (UP) composites were investigated. The composites were synthesized by hand lay-up method with 10, 20, and 30 wt% of both treated and untreated date palm fiber (TDPF/DPF). Furthermore, composites having 10, 20 and 30 wt% of untreated date palm fiber and dune sand (both of them were in equal wt%) were also fabricated. Alkali treatment improved the tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength and flexural modulus of the resulting composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the better interfacial interaction of treated date palm fibers/UP composites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that thermal stability, and degradation temperature of treated DPF composites were best over the untreated DPF composites. Water absorption test indicated the decreasing of hydrophilic character of the filler after treatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Overall analysis represented that satisfactorily improved physical properties of UP for various engineered and hi-tech applications were obtained with 10 wt% fillers loading (5 wt% date palm fiber and 5 wt% dune sand particles).