High Intensity Ultrasonication (HIU) Effect on Sunn Hemp Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite: A Physico-chemical Treatment towards Fiber

Abstract

Sunn hemp (crotalaria Juncea) fiber has reported to be more ecofriendly than synthetic fiber due to its high fiber aspect ratio (500-600), low density (1.4-1.6 g/cm3), high cellulose content (70-78wt %), abundant availability, durabilitythatserve a remarkable criteriain the use ofcomposite fabrication[1].But theinherently hydrophilicnaturecauses poor adhesion with hydrophobic matrix that leads to poor crosslinking [2]. So it is necessary to treat the fiberin order to reduce the hydrophobicity prior to develop composites. Many pretreatment techniques have been adopted to enhance sunn hemp fiber structure [3, 4, 5, 6]. The present paper focus an assessment on a physico-chemical treatment where a High IntensityUltrasonicator (HIU)processorhas used for physical treatment and alkali used for chemical treatment. High frequency electrical energy generated by HIU processor is convertedto mechanical vibration byapiezoelectric transducer that connect to aprobe tip. The vibration from thetip cause cavitation due to sudden formation and collapse of bubbles within the fluid where high temperature, pressure and shock wave are involved. Due to millions of bubbles formation, there is an etching effect associate on fiber surface which help to eliminate the amorphous element from fiber. Some author reported the fruitful outcome of the physicochemical treatment which proves as a suitable technique to enhance mechanical properties of composite [7, 8, 9]. Motivating from the literature work, the present work focus on the combine treatment of HIU-NaOH and their effect on fiber fine structures as well as composites were investigated.