The Effect of Dibutyl phthalate plasticizer to Impregnation and Mechanical Properties of Biocomposite Sansevieria trifasciata/High Impact Polypropylene

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of dibutyl phthalate plasticizer to impregnation and mechanical properties of biocomposite sansevieria trifasciata/high impact polypropylene and to analyze the morphology of interfacial bond between matrix and fiber. In this research, biocomposite sansevieria trifasciata/high impact polypropylene was manufactured by using a hot press method with temperature 180°C and pressure 140 bar for 10 minutes. Fibers were extracted from sansevieria trifasciata by using mechanical retting. In this experiment, the fibers weree treated by NaOH 3% (wt%) solution at temperature 100°C for an hour. The volume fractions of fiber used in this experiment were 0%, 15%, 25%, and 35% with unidirectional orientation. To improve impregnation of high impact polypropylene matrix, 2% dibutyl phthalate was added as plasticizer. Actual density and mechanical properties of biocompositesare conducted based on ASTM standard testing methods D792 and D3039. The results showed that tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and elongations of bio composite sansevieria trifasciata/high impact polypropylene with plasticizer were higher than without added plasticizer. The fracture analysis was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The highest tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and elongation of biocomposites were 65 Mpa, 2.31 GPa and 0.42% respectively. Their highest properties were obtained from bio composites with 35 % volume fraction of unidirectional alkaline treated fiberand 2% dibutyl phthalate. Morphological feature based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that biocomposites with added plasticizer had better interface bond between matrix and fibers.