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PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF COMPRESSION MOLDED KENAF FIBER REINFORCED VINYL ESTER COMPOSITES THROUGH RESIN ADDITIVE

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1179534
Plant-based bio-fiber has the potential to achieve weight and cost savings over glass fiber in automotive polymer composites if moisture stability and fiber-resin compatibility issues can be solved. This paper describes the compression molding of 50vol% 2 inch random nonwoven mat kenaf fiber vinyl ester composites with and without chemical resin additives intended to improve moisture stability and resin compatibility. The 2wt% addition of n-undecanoyl chloride or 10-undecenoyl chloride to the styrene-based resin prior to molding of the kenaf composites was observed to decrease the 24hr, 25oC moisture uptake of the molded panels by more than 50%. The tensile stiffness and flexural stiffness of the soaked panels containing these additives were seen to increase by more than 30% and 70%, respectively, relative to panels made with no additives. While ‘dry’ panel (50% relative humidity at 25oC) strengths did not significantly change in the presence of the additives, tensile strength was observed to increase by more than 40% and flexural strength more than doubled for the soaked panels.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US), Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1179534
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-70709; 35598; VT0505000
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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