Long coir and glass fiber reinforced polypropylene hybrid composites prepared via wet-laid technique

Sanjita Wasti, Amber M. Hubbard, Caitlyn M. Clarkson, Eric Johnston, Halil Tekinalp, Soydan Ozcan, Uday Vaidya

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Natural fiber composites offer an advantage in terms of weight saving for many automotive applications; however, many natural fiber composites lack properties to justify substitution for synthetic composites. Hybridizing the natural fiber composites by adding a fraction of synthetic fibers is an innovative approach to provide a balance between composite's performance and weight savings. In this study, coir fiber (40 wt%)-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were hybridized by substituting a fraction of coir fiber with glass fiber (0–30 wt%). The composites were prepared using a novel wet-laid technique followed by compression molding, where the fiber length is preserved. The composites prepared by hybridizing PP/coir fibers with glass fibers were light in weight (6–20% lighter compared to 40 wt% glass fiber reinforced PP) with significantly enhanced tensile (strength – 49–182%, modulus – 54–130%), flexural (strength – 41–104%, modulus – 64–193%), and impact properties (157 - 474%) compared to 40 wt% coir fiber reinforced PP composites. Furthermore, the addition of glass fiber (10–30 wt%) to coir fiber reduced the water-absorbing tendency (by 18–74%) of PP/coir fiber composites. All in all, this work has potential applications in automotive, mass transit, and truck applications where natural fiber composites are being investigated as alternatives to metal and/or fully synthetic composites.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100445
JournalComposites Part C: Open Access
Volume14
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2024

Funding

This work was supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Office under CPS Agreement 35863, and Manufacturing Renew3D Oak Ridge National Laboratory/University of Maine Hub & Spoke Program team and Institute of Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI). This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). This work was supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Office under CPS Agreement 35863, and the Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Alliance for Renewable Technology (SM2ART) program, formerly known at the Hub & Spoke, between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and theUniversity of Maine. We also thank the Institute of Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) for their support of the project.

Keywords

  • Glass fiber
  • Hybrid composites
  • Mechanical properties
  • Polypropylene/coir fiber composites
  • Water absorption
  • Wet-laid technique

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