Chemical resistance and tensile properties of epoxy/polymethyl methacrylate blend coated bamboo fibres

Abstract

The untreated and 1% aqueous NaOH treated bamboo fibres (<i>Dendrocalamus strictus</i>) were coated with epoxy, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and their blends. The chemical resistance of these fibres to acetic acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, ammonium hydroxide, benzene, toluene and carbon tetrachloride was studied. It has been observed that the uncoated fibres dissolved completely in nitric acid, while the fibres coated with epoxy, PMMA and their blends were resistant to all the acids and alkalis studied. The fibres coated with PMMA and blend of epoxy/PMMA showed a decrease in weight when immersed in the solvents, indicating that the coated fibres are not resistant to the solvents. The coated fibres show lower water absorption as compared to the uncoated fibres. The tensile load-at-break of the epoxy/PMMA coated fibres is higher than that of the uncoated, PMMA-coated and epoxy-coated fibres. These observations indicate that the bamboo fibres and the PMMA/epoxy blend are suitable materials for making composites having better tensile properties and chemical resistance to acids and alkalis.