Experimental study on mechanical and physical properties of biodegradable fiber reinforced composites

In this paper physical and biodegradable properties of green composite made of cotton fabric and biodegradable resins (starch, poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) & carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC)) prepared by a solution casting method have been studied. The obtained results show that the best tensile strength (equivalent to 27.8 MPa ± 2.1 MPa) as well as the highest amount of Young modulus (8.3 GPa ± 0.8 GPa), is observed in the composites made of cotton fabric content (60 vol.%), 5 wt% starch, 7 wt% PVA & 1.5 wt% CMC by weight), which is comparable to conventional composites. This property is more than just cotton fabric and the film made from biodegradable resin. Morphological examination by scanning electron microscopy shows that the composite is reinforced by cotton fibers. This is due to the strong interaction between the cotton fabric and biodegradable resin. By increasing the percentage of CMC, the resistance of composites to moisture penetration is improved. The biodegradability test shows that the addition of CMC reduces the biodegradability of the composites and the addition of starch and polyvinyl alcohol increases it. These composites can be a good candidate for high performance biodegradable polymer composites.