Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites

Natural fibers are mechanically and thermally weaker than synthetic fibre due to its high water intake. To overcome this problem, addition of hydrophilic silica is expected to penetrate into the lumen and cell walls of fibre thus serving as blocking agent to inhibit water absorption. Two methods wer...

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Main Author:	Bajuri, Farid
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2018
Subjects:	Epoxy compounds Kenaf Silica
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/77406/1/FK%202019%207%20IR.pdf
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spelling	my-upm-ir.774062020-04-29T02:26:23Z Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites 2018-04 Bajuri, Farid Natural fibers are mechanically and thermally weaker than synthetic fibre due to its high water intake. To overcome this problem, addition of hydrophilic silica is expected to penetrate into the lumen and cell walls of fibre thus serving as blocking agent to inhibit water absorption. Two methods were adopted for the fabrication of hybrid epoxy reinforced with kenaf/silica: (1) Vacuum Infusion (VAC) and (2) Hand Lay-up/Hot Press (HP). For VAC process, the silica/epoxy solution was infused into fibre using vacuum pressure while for HP composites, silica/epoxy solution was spread onto fibre before hot pressed at 85˚C for 20 mins and cold pressed subsequently for another 5 mins. Another method was applied for HP which involves impregnation (IMP) of silica/epoxy solution into fibre. To achieve this, fibre was first degassed before submerged into silica/epoxy solution overnight and then compressed to remove excess resin prior to hot pressing the composite. Overall, the highest flexural strength and flexural modulus was achieved by IMP specimen of 40 vol% kenaf and 5 vol% silicas, with 78.8MPa and 5.11 GPa respectively. For HP specimens, the increment in kenaf volume leads to increase in flexural properties. In addition to that, the flexural strength and flexural modulus of HP specimens with 0, 1 and 5 vol% silica were found to be higher than VAC specimens. Despite that, water uptakes of VAC specimens were lower (lower water absorption rate is more desirable), ranging from 8-18.4% while HP specimens absorbs as much as 13-29%. Increment of kenaf volume was found to increase water uptakes considerably. On the other hand, inclusion of silicas also increased the water uptakes but only slightly. Interestingly, IMP specimens with 40, 50 and 60 vol% kenaf and 5 vol% silica absorbed 30.5, 36.7 and 54.4% less water respectively than their HP counterparts, indicating that silica has successfully impregnated the fiber walls and lumen thus blocking water from entering the fibres. Finally, the thermal stability of silica infused specimens was better due to the higher degradation temperature. Generally, composites with 40 vol% kenaf and 5 vol% silica had the highest degradation temperature at 335.43˚C for HP specimen while 60 vol% kenaf and 0 vol% silica HP composite possessed the lowest degradation temperature with 318.79°C. Epoxy compounds Kenaf Silica 2018-04 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/77406/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/77406/1/FK%202019%207%20IR.pdf text en public masters Universiti Putra Malaysia Epoxy compounds Kenaf Silica Mazlan, Norkhairunnisa
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection	PSAS Institutional Repository
language	English
advisor	Mazlan, Norkhairunnisa
topic	Epoxy compounds Kenaf Silica
spellingShingle	Epoxy compounds Kenaf Silica Bajuri, Farid Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
description	Natural fibers are mechanically and thermally weaker than synthetic fibre due to its high water intake. To overcome this problem, addition of hydrophilic silica is expected to penetrate into the lumen and cell walls of fibre thus serving as blocking agent to inhibit water absorption. Two methods were adopted for the fabrication of hybrid epoxy reinforced with kenaf/silica: (1) Vacuum Infusion (VAC) and (2) Hand Lay-up/Hot Press (HP). For VAC process, the silica/epoxy solution was infused into fibre using vacuum pressure while for HP composites, silica/epoxy solution was spread onto fibre before hot pressed at 85˚C for 20 mins and cold pressed subsequently for another 5 mins. Another method was applied for HP which involves impregnation (IMP) of silica/epoxy solution into fibre. To achieve this, fibre was first degassed before submerged into silica/epoxy solution overnight and then compressed to remove excess resin prior to hot pressing the composite. Overall, the highest flexural strength and flexural modulus was achieved by IMP specimen of 40 vol% kenaf and 5 vol% silicas, with 78.8MPa and 5.11 GPa respectively. For HP specimens, the increment in kenaf volume leads to increase in flexural properties. In addition to that, the flexural strength and flexural modulus of HP specimens with 0, 1 and 5 vol% silica were found to be higher than VAC specimens. Despite that, water uptakes of VAC specimens were lower (lower water absorption rate is more desirable), ranging from 8-18.4% while HP specimens absorbs as much as 13-29%. Increment of kenaf volume was found to increase water uptakes considerably. On the other hand, inclusion of silicas also increased the water uptakes but only slightly. Interestingly, IMP specimens with 40, 50 and 60 vol% kenaf and 5 vol% silica absorbed 30.5, 36.7 and 54.4% less water respectively than their HP counterparts, indicating that silica has successfully impregnated the fiber walls and lumen thus blocking water from entering the fibres. Finally, the thermal stability of silica infused specimens was better due to the higher degradation temperature. Generally, composites with 40 vol% kenaf and 5 vol% silica had the highest degradation temperature at 335.43˚C for HP specimen while 60 vol% kenaf and 0 vol% silica HP composite possessed the lowest degradation temperature with 318.79°C.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Bajuri, Farid
author_facet	Bajuri, Farid
author_sort	Bajuri, Farid
title	Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
title_short	Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
title_full	Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
title_fullStr	Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
title_full_unstemmed	Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
title_sort	effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites
granting_institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate	2018
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/77406/1/FK%202019%207%20IR.pdf
_version_	1747813221960515584

Effect of impregnation of silica into kenaf fibre- reinforced epoxy composites

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