Development and characterization of polymer composites with cotton straw fiber derived from agricultural wastes

Abstract In the global pursuit of using sustainable component materials, reinforcement materials derived from agricultural straw waste have attracted widespread attention to develop polymer composites. However, the polar and hydrophilic properties of straw fibers limit their interfacial adhesion behavior, which leads to poor physico‐mechanical and tribological properties of the resulting polymer composites. In this work, cotton straw fibers (CSFs) were derived from agricultural cotton straw wastes, and then were treated with sodium hydroxide solutions of different concentrations (0–7 wt.%). Physical and mechanical properties were analyzed and tribological properties of the developed CSF reinforced polymer composites were investigated systematically. The experiment results indicated that the incorporation of treated‐CSFs in the polymer composite had less effect on the density, whereas it significantly enhanced the water absorption, impact strength and tribological properties. The worn surface morphology analysis revealed that the addition of the treated‐CSFs is conducive to the formation of the contact plateaus, which is in turn beneficial in improving the wear resistance of the treated‐CSF reinforced polymer composites. Overall, the developed polymer composites reinforced with the treated‐CSFs have shown better physico‐mechanical and tribological properties. The present work confirms the possibility of using agricultural corn straw waste as reinforcement fibers, and then paves the path for the development of future commercial plant fiber reinforced polymer composites. Highlights The usability of cotton straw waste as a reinforcement in polymer composite was investigated. The physico‐mechanical and tribological properties of the polymer composites were evaluated. The alkali‐treated cotton straw fibres were more effective in improving the impact resistance and tribological properties. Use of cotton straw waste in the polymer composite reduced its impact on the environment.