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The properties of pineapple leaf fiber composites drawn from the vastly untapped Yankee pineapple plant variant were tested in this study. The properties of silane treated (T-PALFC) and untreated (UT-PALFC) samples were evaluated using flexural testing, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and thermomechanical analysis (TMA). In this study, the T-PALFC sample was specifically treated in silane for 3 hours. The results show that the bending strength is improved by up to 97% in PALF composite compared to epoxy composite.The DMA results show that the UT-PALFC possess 7.1% higher storage modulus than T-PALFC, indicating untreated fiber attribute to high dynamic property in composite. The TMA finding shows the sequence of linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) as follows: T-PALFC > Neat epoxy > UT-PALFC. Furthermore, this research shows T-PALFC displayed lower properties compared to UT-PALFC because the composite had low cross-linked network. This is because T-PALFC had low glass transition temperature, Tg as shown in tan delta curve and was further supported in differential scanning calorimetry analysis. Moreover, morphological analysis of the cross-section image of the T-PALFC shows the existence of a wide gap between the PALF and the matrix compared to UT-PALFC.

The effect of reinforcing natural fiber in the form of woven fabric on dynamic mechanical and thermogravimetric analysis was investigated. Further the influence of water molecule interaction on dynamic mechanical analysis of natural fiber composite were studied. Results revealed that basket type and intra-ply hybridized composites enhances the dynamic mechanical properties of the composites due to the enhancement in modulus by the reinforcement, whereas herringbone composites enhance the loss factor of the composites. It was noticed that, irrespective of the weaving architecture and intra-ply hybridization, composite samples immersed in the water for 45 days affects the storage and loss modulus of the composite and to enhance the loss factor. Thermogravimetric analysis carried out on composites revealed that, compared to weaving architecture, the presence of cellulose and hemicellulose in the fiber cell wall influences the thermal properties of the composites.

In this study, the hybrid nanofiller of montmorillonite (MMT) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) were incorporated into shape memory epoxy (SMEP) at different loadings. The fillers were dispersed in the SMEP resin by sonication. Tensile and flexural properties were analyzed at room temperature (RT) and high temperature (HT). Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to analyze the microstructure of fractured samples. The tensile results revealed that at RT, the hybrid filler nanocomposite exhibits a ductile behavior meanwhile at HT, the nanocomposite exhibits a brittle behavior. The sample with the hybrid filler loading of 3 wt% MMT and 1.0 wt% MWCNT produced maximum performance with an increase of 32.5% in the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and 20.9% in Young’s modulus at RT. The trends of the UTS and modulus obtained in the HT tensile test were almost similar to the RT tensile test despite yielding lower value. The RT flexural test revealed an increasing flexural strength as the filler loading increased with a maximum of 176% increase for hybrid filler of 3 wt% MMT and 1.0 wt% MWCNT. This trend was also observed for the flexural strength at HT. From FE-SEM, it was observed that the SMEP nanocomposite containing 3 wt% MMT and 1.0 wt% MWCNT was well dispersed and interact with each other, producing a synergetic reinforcement towards the performance. This study demonstrates the tensile and flexural reinforcement effect of MMT and MWCNT hybrid nanofiller. Findings from this study can be utilized to select the optimum loading for mechanical requirements in various applications.