European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FLAME RETARDANT PINEAPPLE LEAF FIBER-G- POLY (2 ETHYL HEXYL ACRYLATE)/ MMT COMPOSITE

*Mamata Sahu and Prafulla K.Sahoo*

ABSTRACT

Natural fibre composites have been prepared by grafting hydrophobic monomer 2-Ethyl Hexyle Acrylate (2-EHA) on to chemically modified pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) using Benzoyl peroxide as initiator in an aqueous medium with additive montmorillonite. The polymerization reaction has been studied at various temperature duration and Benzoyl peroxide at various concentrations. The overall activation energy of grafting is found to be 19.04kj mol-1 and the optimum time period for the reaction is 3.5h. The chemically modified PALF, PALF-g-PEHA copolymer and PALF-g-PEHA/MMT composites so obtained have been characterized by FT-IR and their morphology studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal behavior and tensile properties of the samples have been studied and the flame retardant properties have also been evaluated by limiting oxygen index (LOI) test and cone calorimetry. The biodegradation and water absorbency have been carried out for its ecofriendly nature and better commercialization.

Keywords: Pine apple leaf fiber, Poly (2-Ethylhexylacrylate), Montmorillonite, Biodegradation, Flame retarardant.