Mechanical Properties of Benzoylation Treated Sugar Palm Fiber and Its Composite

Studies on the effect of treated sugar palm fiber with alkaline treatment and benzoylation treatment on single fiber tensile strength and interfacial shear strength (IFSS) are shown in this paper. Also shown is the tensile strength of treated sugar palm fiber composite with variable fiber loading (10%, 20% and 30%). For alkaline treatment sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was used, while benzoyl chloride (C7H5ClO) was used in benzoylation treatment. Polymer matrix that was used in the process of making sugar palm fiber composite is epoxy resin with hardener. For the single fiber test and IFSS, the alkaline treatment was carried out using 1% concentration of sodium hydroxide for one hour soaking time while 5ml of benzoyl chloride was used to agitate with sodium hydroxide for benzoylation treatment with variable soaking time (10, 20 and 30 minutes). Treated sugar palm fiber showed higher single fiber strength and IFSS compared to untreated fiber due to the efficiency of both treatments which help rearrangement of fibrils along the tensile force direction. Tensile properties of sugar palm fiber composite show improvement in tensile stress and tensile modulus for treated sugar palm fiber composite while tensile strain show the opposite result. This is because the bonding strength between fiber and matrix increased by removing the outer layer together with impurities from the fiber during chemical treatment. Thus, with this treatment method, sugar palm fiber can be use as reinforcement material for composite and use them for commercial use such as for furniture and component inside vehicle.