Mechanical, thermal and microstructural studies of Bauhinia Vahlii fiber reinforced polypropylene composite.

Nowadays, the natural fibers reinforced thermoplastic polymers have been increasingly used in various automotive, construction, and packaging industries because of their high modulus, strength, and renewability. In this work, the thermoplastic polymer is reinforced by surface‐modified Bauhinia Vahlii (BV) fiber. The fabrication of composite at 10, 20, and 30 wt% BV fiber loading is done by compression molding technique and characterization of the composite is carried out. The tensile and flexural strength is found to be maximum at 10 wt% BV fiber content, indicating a strong interfacial bond between fiber and matrix as supported by scanning electron microscope of fracture surfaces of the composite. The impact strength and hardness of the BV/polypropylene (PP) composite increases with BV fiber loading. According to the dynamic mechanical analysis results, with rise in BV fiber content in the composite, the storage and loss modulus improved, but tan delta reduced. The thermogravimetric analysis and derivative thermogravimetry inferred that the composite's thermal stability lies between modified BV fiber and PP matrix. The differential scanning calorimetry curve studies the melting and crystallization behavior of the composite. The higher crystallinity index of composite is obtained at 10 wt% BV fiber content supported by tensile strength result. Both hot and cold‐water immersion processes studied the water absorption behavior of the composite. The composite with a higher percentage of fiber absorbs more water and takes less time to reach saturation. Compared to other produced composites and neat PP, it is observed that composites fabricated with 10% BV fiber content have superior characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]