Processing and Characterization of Waste Denim Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites
Mobashera Saima Haque1, Ahmed Sharif2
1Mobashera Saima Haque, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, BangladeshUniversity of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2Dr. Ahmed Sharif, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, BangladeshUniversity of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Manuscript received on May 05, 2014. | Revised Manuscript received on May 11, 2014. | Manuscript published on May 15, 2014. | PP: 18-22 | Volume-2 Issue-6, May 2014. | Retrieval Number: F0672052614/2014©BEIESP
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©The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: In recent years, textile waste fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer matrix composites have gained commercial success in different applications. In this study, polypropylene matrix based composite structures were produced by using waste denim fiber at different ratios (5 and 10 %) and conditions (with and without moisture). The mechanical, thermal, chemical and morphological properties of the composites were characterized. The results indicated that after removing moisture, the flexural strength and the flexure modulus of the composites improved with increasing fiber percentage, whereas better tensile properties were obtained at lower fiber content. The highest tensile strength was obtained for 5wt% dry denim fiber-pp composites. The surface morphology of the fracture surfaces of the tensile specimens, examined by a field emission scanning electron microscope, revealed the presence of microvoids. The infrared spectra of pp-denim fiber composites were taken and the characteristic peaks were studied. The lower thermal stability of the produced composites were confirmed by Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA).
Keywords: Waste denim fiber, polypropylene (pp) resin, composite, moisture.