An investigation on thermal and chemical behavior of jute/hemp/flax fiber reinforced woven composites and its hybrids

Abstract

Natural fiber has emerged as a viable alternative to synthetic fibers like glass, carbon, and Kevlar for the development of polymeric composites. Present study focused on Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential thermal analysis (DTA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of the reinforced fibers and developed composites. HR-X-Ray Diffraction of neat epoxy, jute, hemp, and flax fibers was also performed. For TGA, as the temperature increases up to 250⁰C, thermal degradation of all composites is higher as compared to the neat epoxy. Addition of natural fibers as reinforcement with epoxy matrix affects the transmittance peaks between 1000-1500 cm^-1 and 1608-1738 cm^-1 in FTIR spectra. The peaks transmittance between 1000-1500 cm^-1 represents the chemical compositions of the fibers (hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, and pectin) which are the necessary part of plant fibers. In X-ray diffraction, two sharp peaks appear at a diffraction angle of 21.4⁰ and 14.8⁰ for jute, hemp, and flax fibers. Peak at a diffraction angle (2Ɵ) of 26.3⁰ represents α-cellulose and 14.26⁰ represents non-cellulose material such as hemicellulose and lignin in fiber.