Improvement of Mechanical, Dynamic-Mechanical and Thermal Properties for Noil Ramie Fiber Reinforced Polyethylene Composites

Noil discarded fibers from fiber production for textile industry have short length and are always consid- ered less valuable. Here, noil ramie fibers/HDPE composite is prepared using twin-screw extruder and the dynam- ic mechanical and thermal properties are studied. The influence of ramie fiber and maleic anhydride-grafted poly- olefin （MA-g-PO） on mechanical, dynamic mechanical and thermal properties is investigated. It is observed that the tensile, flexural and impact properties of the composites treated with MA-g-PO are all improved in comparison to the untreated composites. Dynamic mechanical properties of the composite with MA-g-PO show an increase in the storage modulus with a higher a relaxation peak, together with the micromorphology analysis, indicating an improved interracial bonding between fiber and matrix by the MA-g-PO addition. Furthermore, the change in TGA thermograms of composite caused by MA-g-PO exhibits that the addition of MA-g-PO is also helpful to increase the thermal stability of noil ramie fiber/HDPE composites.