Development of Natural Fibres Reinforced Polymer Composite Foams for Rotational Moulding with Blowing Agent Loaded Kenaf Fibres
Lin Richard J.T. (1)*, Jung Daeseung (1), Cao Owen (1), Ye Claire (1)
(1) Center for Advanced Composite Materials, University of Auckland - Auckland - NewZealand
Due to the pressure-free nature of rotational moulding (RM), foaming during moulding and the addition of
reinforcements are not easily achievable using this process. Despite some partial success from a few research, the quality
of foaming and the reinforced moulded product have not been satisfying. In this research, it has been attempted to use
a blowing agent to coat the natural fibre reinforcement before mixing the fibres with the polymer matrix to form the
composite blend for the subsequent RM process, hoping to achieve a moulding with a more uniform fibre distribution
as well as improved specific mechanical properties when compared with the normal foamed RM product.
Linear medium density polyethylene (LMDPE) of different melt flow indices (MFI) were used as the polymer matrix
to be reinforced by kenaf fibres. A maleic anhydride grafted PE (MAPE) was used as the coupling agent to enhance
the fibre polymer bonding and urea was employed as the blowing agent to achieve foaming for the final composite
moulding. The kenaf fibres were treated by urea through a solution method before being compounded with MAPE and
LMDPE by extrusion to prepare the final powdery feedstock for RM. All of the mouldings were carried out with a
two-axis rotational moulder using the peak internal air temperature of 190 oC as the heating cut-off point.
Three mechanical, namely tensile, flexural and impact, tests were conducted on the samples to characterise the RM
foamed composites. The results has shown that there is a proportional relationship between density and the mechanical
properties. Between the composite and pure polymer foams, there is an increase in specific tensile strength when fibre
reinforcement is added. However, the specific flexural properties remain the same and the impact property is
decreased.
Examining the optical microscopic and 3D CT scanning images of the composite samples, it was found that MFI has a
significant impact towards the wall thickness and pore size. A LMDPE