Effect of viscose fabric modification on the mechanical and water absorption properties of composites prepared through vacuum infusion

Viscose fabric-reinforced unsaturated polyester composites were successfully prepared through vacuum infusion process. Unidirectional viscose fabric was modified by two different organosilane coupling agents and by acetylation treatment. The main objective was to study the influence of fabric treatment on the mechanical and water absorption properties of the composites. Flexural, tensile and impact properties of composites were studied. The results from mechanical testing of composites pointed out that 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane treatment increased the flexural and impact strengths of the composites with respect to untreated fabric composite. The impact strength of 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane-treated fabric composites almost doubled compared to the value of untreated fabric composite. Among all the composites under study, those with fabrics treated by 2 vol% 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane in ethanol/water (95:5) solution exhibited significant improvement in water uptake resistance. An unsaturated polyester gelcoat and topcoat were applied as the outer surface on the composites with untreated fabric. This was done in order to investigate the visual surface appearance and evaluate the gelcoat and topcoat effect on water absorption after accelerated water immersion test. The regenerated cellulose fibre as reinforcement shows high potential to be used as an alternative for natural bast fibres, especially, when toughness of material matters. Chemical treatment of regenerated cellulose fibres could result in improvement in properties of polymer composites, considering that the appropriate treatment method is selected for the corresponding fibre–matrix system.