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Effect of silkworm silk fibre content and length on mechanical and thermal properties of green composites based on poly(butylene succinate)

A. BUASRI1,2,* , N. CHAIYUT1,2, V. LORYUENYONG1,2, P. MACHUEN1, P. CHALITAPANUKUL1, S. JIRARATTANAWANNA1

Affiliation

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand
  2. National Center of Excellence for Petroleum, Petrochemicals and Advanced Materials, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Abstract

In the present study, silkworm silk fibre (SF) reinforced poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) green composites have been fabricated with different fibre contents and fibre length by twin screw extruder and injection molding machine. The filler was treated with 5% w/v aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution for 1 h to remove the sericin on the surface of fibre. The tensile, impact and thermal properties of biocomposites have been investigated. The results demonstrate that tensile strength, tensile modulus and impact strength of the composites increased with fibre content whereas the % elongation at break decreased. Better interfacial bonding between the fibres and the polymer matrix was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The thermal stability and crystallinity (Xc) of PBS/SF biocomposites increased with increasing filler content. Based on the current results, animal-based fibres can be effectively used as a reinforcement in composites system by improving the properties and performances of biopolymer matrix..

Keywords

Poly(butylene succinate), Silkworm silk fibre, Green composites, Biomaterials.

Submitted at: Sept. 6, 2013
Accepted at: July 10, 2014

Citation

A. BUASRI, N. CHAIYUT, V. LORYUENYONG, P. MACHUEN, P. CHALITAPANUKUL, S. JIRARATTANAWANNA, Effect of silkworm silk fibre content and length on mechanical and thermal properties of green composites based on poly(butylene succinate), Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 16, Iss. 7-8, pp. 939-944 (2014)