Maize–Natural Fiber as Reinforcement with Polymers for Structural Applications - Natural Polymers, Biopolymers, Biomaterials, and Their Composites, Blends, and IPNs - page 38

Maize stalk fibers are obtained from the farm field by local resources and it is
cleaned manually and later thoroughly washed in running water and the fibers were
sun dried. These fibers were decorticated properly and later chemically treated by 5%
NaOH solution. The fibers were chopped into random pieces of uniform length. The
obtained fibers were kept in an oven at around 60°C for 120 min and later used for
the work. The natural fibers are now ready to use as a fiber material for processing.
The VARTM method of processing composites is carried out efficiently with no voids
and spaces around the mold. The laminate is sealed within an airtight envelope. When
the bag is sealed, pressure on the outside and inside of this envelope is equal to the
atmospheric pressure. The matrix material used is a thermosetting resin of unsaturated
polyester resin mixed with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide as a catalyst and cobalt oc-
toate as a promoter. The detailed work is depicted in Figure 2 . The composites pre-
pared were examined for integrity of fiber with the resin and confirmed that the maize
fibers are suitable reinforcements for composites.
results aNd disCussioNs
Plant based natural fibers are lignocellulosic, consisting of cellulose micro fibrils in an
amorphous matrix of lignin and hemicellulose. To improve the incorporation of natu-
ral fibers into polymers and to have higher fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion, natural
fibers can be altered by different physical and chemical treatments.
Figure 3. Scanning electron micrographs of raw maize fiber.
Fiber samples were sputtered and placed in for analyzing using scanning elec-
tron microscope. Figure (3, 4) reveals the cross section of raw maize fiber. It has a
thick layer of protective material and cellular deposits and also presence of lumen