Impact on Mechanical Properties of Surface Treated Coconut Leaf Sheath Fiber/Sic Nano Particles Reinforced Phenol-formaldehyde Polymer Composites

Several agro-wastes are rich in natural fibers and finds scope to be used as reinforcement in composite industry. These natural fibers have some advantages over man-made fibers, including low cost, light weight, renewable nature, high specific strength and modulus, and availability in various forms worldwide. In this paper, the effect of surface modification of leaf sheath coconut fiber (LSF) (an agro-waste) reinforced in phenol formaldehyde matrix composites with silicon carbide (SiC) nano particles as filler material were investigated for its mechanical characteristics. The investigation portrays that coconut LSF (CLSF) modified with potassium permanganate reinforced polymer composite with SiC nano particles as filler material exhibited 18.86%, 22.54%, 10.72% and 15.43% higher tensile, flexural, hardness and impact characteristics respectively compared to the unmodified CLSF reinforced polymer composite. The results reveal that the surface modification treatment considerably increased the mechanical characteristics of the composite.