Enhancement of Morphological and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Megathyrsus maximus Fibre-Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Lignocellulosic fibre-based polymer composites have gained significant attention due to their ecofriendly nature against the petrochemical fibre-based polymer composites. This study was done to enhance the morphological and thermo-mechanical properties of guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) fibre reinforced epoxy composite. The fibres were modified with 8% sodium hydroxide solution for 4 hours. The composites were fabricated by hand lay-up method, combining different lengths (10mm, 30mm and 50mm) and volume fractions (10%, 30% and 50%) of the modified fibres with epoxy matrix via compression moulding. The results of the mechanical analysis show that the composite with 50mm-30% fibre loading exhibit better tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength and flexural modulus of 130.51MPa, 4.731GPa, 57.89MPa and 2.742GPa respectively compared to other fibre composites examined. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric/Differential Thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) analysis on the composites show that fibre modification affect the morphological and thermal properties of the composite.