Development and characterization of sisal and jute cellulose reinforced polymer composite

Abstract The global demand of sustainable and biodegradable materials has led to the development of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer (NFRP) composite. The development of NFRP composites has been an interesting area of research because of its attractive properties such as high strength to weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance and biodegradability. Several natural fibers such as jute, sisal, flax and hemp has been used as a reinforcement material with the polymer to form the NFRP composites. Cellulose, which is the basic structural element of all fibers, possesses higher strength to weight ratio than fibers. The present investigation aims to develop Cellulose Reinforced Polymer Composite (CRPC) using cellulose from jute and sisal fibers as reinforcement and epoxy L-12 as matrix. CRPC with different proportions of cellulose and epoxies were developed using compression moulding techniques. Further mechanical properties such as tensile, impact and flexural strength have been examined for all 6 different proportions. The current study reveals that CRPC can be promising replacement for NFRP composite for lower load bearing applications in automotive industries and thus it can lead to usage of more sustainable and biodegradable composites.