Effect of chemical treatment on mechanical and physical propertie so kenaf fiber mat reinforced unsaturated polyester composite with the presence of graphene as nano filler

Kenaf fiber mat (KFM) reinforced unsaturated polyester (UPE) composites have been prepared by using hand lay-up and compression moulding techniques. In order to improve the interfacial adhesion between fiber and matrix, the KFM was chemically treated with two different treatments which is silane and alkaline treatment (NaOH) with 3 hours of soaking time. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was used to investigate the changes of fibers chemical constituents after treatment. Mechanical (tensile, flexural) and physical (water absorption, thickness swelling) tests were carried out to study and compare that properties of untreated, silane and alkaline treated KFM-UPE composites. Overall, the use of alkalized KFM in UPE composite showed the best mechanical and physical properties compared to silane treatment. The current research has been reported that the addition of graphene would improve the performance of composite. Hence, the alkaline treated KFM-UPE composite became the most preferable to be re-prepared with the presence of graphene at three different percentages (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%). The mechanical and physical tests showed the most optimum performance of KFM-UPE composite were at the addition of 1% and 1.5% of graphene respectively. The morphological analysis of rupture surface of samples has demonstrated the improvement in fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion after chemical treatment and addition of graphene, respectively.