A novel physical method for processing agro-waste derived pineapple leaf fibre for fabricating polypropylene matrix composites with higher mechanical performance

Abstract In this work, a new physical method was used to process agro-waste pineapple leaf fibres (PALF) instead of any chemical treatment for fabricating polypropylene (PP) matrix composites. Carding process was used for individualization and partial fibrillation of PALF as well as for removal of dust and sticky fibres. The high melt viscosity of PP hinders its penetration into the composite reinforcement. To overcome this difficulty, the separated and fibrillated PALF and PP fibres of different fineness were blended (50%/50% by weight) in the carding process to ensure homogeneous distribution of reinforcement and matrix phases within composites. The blended carded silver was further parallelized through a gill-drawing process, and subsequently, unidirectional composites were fabricated using compression moulding technique. A homogeneous fibre-matrix distribution was achieved in case of longer PALF and finer PP fibres, leading to the best mechanical properties of fabricated composites. The used carding process with optimum number of passages did not reduce the fibre length or deteriorate the mechanical properties of fibres and also found effective in improving fibre surface roughness, leading to an improved fibre-matrix interface. This study is the first to demonstrate the use of carding for processing of PALF and how PALF length and carding process influence different properties of fabricated composites.