Flexural and impact properties of chemically treated sugar palm fiber reinforced high impact polystyrene composites

The effects of chemical treatment on the flexural and impact properties of sugar palm fiber reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites were studied. Two types of concentration of alkali solution (4 % and 6 %) and also two types of percentage of compatibilizing agent (2 % and 3 %) have been used in this study. The alkaline treatment is carried out by immersing the fibers in 4 % and 6 % of alkali solution for 1 hour. A 40 wt. % of alkali treated sugar palm fiber (SPF) was blended with HIPS using Brabender machine at temperature of 165 °C. The second treatment was employed by compounding mixture of sugar palm fibers and HIPS with 2 and 3 % of compatibilizing agent using the same procedure. The composites plate with dimensions of 150×150×3 mm was produced by using the hot press machine. The flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength of composites were measured and the values were compared to the untreated composites. Improvement of the mechanical properties of the composites has been shown successfully. Alkali treatment using 6 % NaOH solution improve the flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength of the composites as amount 12 %, 19 % and 34 % respectively, whereas compatibilizing agent treatment only showed the improvement on the impact strength, i.e. 6 % and 16 % improvement for 2 % and 3 % MAH respectively.