Effect of Weight Fractions of Jute Fiber on Tensile Strength and Deflection Temperature of Jute Fiber/Polypropylene Composites

Jute is one of eco-friendly natural fiber with relatively low cost and high volume production. This study aimed to determine the effect of weight fractions of jute fiber as a reinforcement in polypropylene (PP) to obtain an optimum properties of PP/jute fiber composites. Jute fiber was pre-treated through alkalization. The PP was initially produced by extrusion process, followed by fabricated the composites by compiling the PP matrix and jute fibers into lamina using a hot-press method. The results of tensile test and heat deflection temperature test showed that the addition of 40wt% jute fiber to the PP increased the tensile strength about 19.7 % up to (38.2±4.9)MPa, the Young modulus about 79.8 % up to (3.20±0.26)GPa, and the heat deflection temperature about 143% up to (143.3±1.14)°C compared to pristine PP. Based on Scanning Electron Microscopy observation on the fracture surfaces, it was shown that the mode of failure on the composites failure surfaces was "fiber pull-out", which due to the poor interface bond between the fiber and the matrix.