Water absorption and mechanical behaviour of Borassus fruit fibre-reinforced composites

The application of natural fibre composites has increased manifold due to their environment-friendliness and sustainable characteristics. In this study, short Borassus fruit fibre (natural fibre)-based composites were fabricated and the water absorption and mechanical (tensile, flexural and impact) behaviour of the developed composites were evaluated. Alkali treatment of Borassus fruit fibres was also carried out at different concentrations (4, 8 and 12%) of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to investigate the influence of the concentration of sodium hydroxide on the water absorption and mechanical behaviour of the developed composites. The water absorption behaviour of the fabricated composites was tested under three distinct conditions - namely, Ganga water, distilled water and tap water. The surface morphology of the Borassus fibres showed that the sodium hydroxide treatment of the fibres resulted in surface modification of the fibres, which subsequently resulted in improved mechanical strength and less water uptake tendency by the developed short Borassus fibre-based composites.