Mechanical performance and water uptake behaviour of treated bamboo fibre-reinforced high-density polyethylene composites

O O Daramola; A D Akinwekomi; A A Adediran; O Akindote-White; E R Sadiku

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02028

Mechanical performance and water uptake behaviour of treated bamboo fibre-reinforced high-density polyethylene composites

Heliyon. 2019 Jul 3;5(7):e02028. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02028. eCollection 2019 Jul.

Authors

O O Daramola^{1

2}, A D Akinwekomi¹, A A Adediran³, O Akindote-White¹, E R Sadiku²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure 340001, Nigeria.
² Institute of NanoEngineering Research (INER), Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (Polymer Division), Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa and the Tooling Centre Soshanguve Campus, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 117, South Africa.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Landmark University, PMB 1001, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria.

Abstract

High density polyethylene (HDPE) composites reinforced with short bamboo fibre (BF) were fabricated by compression moulding technique. BF were extracted from bamboo culm and treated with 0.5 M NaOH. The composites were developed by melt-compounding various weight fractions (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt.%) of the treated BF with HDPE with the aid of single screw laboratory extruder at a temperature of 180-220 °C. The extrudates were thereafter moulded into various test specimens with the aid of carver laboratory press at a temperature of 230 °C and applied pressure of 0.2 kPa for 10 min. Effect of the treated BF on the mechanical properties and water uptake behaviour of the composites were studied. The results revealed that there was enhancement in the mechanical properties from 2 - 4 wt.% of BF while the water absorption rate increased with increase in the fibre weight fraction. The morphology of the composites showed that there was a homogenous dispersion of BF at lower weight fraction, although fibre agglomeration was noticed at higher weight fraction. The results of this study revealed that treated bamboo fibres are suitable for reinforcing HDPE.

Keywords: Bamboo fibres; Flexural; Fracture; Materials science; Matrix; Reinforcement.