Improvement of the interface bonding between date palm fibers and polymeric matrices using alkali-silane treatments

In this paper, the effect of chemical treatments on date palm fibers (DPFs) properties was studied; DPFs were first treated with a 5 wt% NaOH aqueous solution for 1 h and then modified using two types of silane coupling agents (3-Mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and 3-Aminopropyltrimethoxysilane) with various concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2 wt%) to improve the interfacial properties of DPFs with polymeric matrices. SEM observations showed the formation of silane layers on the alkalized surface of DPFs. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) results showed that the salinization was successfully performed by forming covalent Si–O–C bonds between DPF and silane coupling agent. The pull-out behavior of treated fibers was also investigated using two matrices; polyurethane (PU) and epoxy. The obtained results showed that the treatments have successfully improved the interfacial bond characteristics of DPF-PU and DPF-Epoxy systems.