Effect of pineapple leaf fibre and kenaf fibre treatment on mechanical performance of phenolic hybrid composites

In this work, hybrid composites were fabricated by hand layup method to hybridize treated Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) and kenaf fibre (KF) in order to achieve superior mechanical properties on untreated hybrid composites. Silane treated PALF/KF phenolic hybrid composites were prepared on various fibre fraction to investigate mechanical properties and compared with untreated PALF/KF phenolic hybrid composites. The effects of silane treatment on hybrid composites were investigated by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and found very effective peaks. Effects of treated hybrid composites were morphologically investigated by using scanning electron microscopy images and analysed the tensile results. Treated PALF/KF phenolic hybrid composites enhanced the flexural strength, modulus, impact strength and energy absorption while tensile strength and modulus decreased. The overall performances of 70 % PALF 30 % Kenaf hybrid composites were improved after silane treatment. Silane treatment of fibres improved the mechanical performance of hybrid composites and it can be utilized to produce components for building structure, materials and automobile applications.