Properties of Seaweed Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Composite: Effect of Alkaline Treatment

Natural fibers are favored to use as raw resources in making reinforced polymer composite because they are abundant and inexpensive. However, natural fiber-reinforced composites are suggested to be treated to improve their qualities before being employed in the production of composites. The seaweed fibers are treated with an alkaline medium in this study. Alkaline treatment of seaweed/polypropylene (SW/PP) composites is expected to increase their physical and mechanical qualities. Extrusion and hot-pressing processes are used in the production of this composite. The results reveal that after being treated, the SW/PP composite has a low proportion of water absorption compared to the untreated SW/PP composite. Untreated SW/ PP composites have a higher melt flow resistance (MRF), which indicates the presence of waxy and cellulose constituents and makes the composites flow easier in the melt indexer. The tensile strength of composites is higher in treated SW/PP composites, with a value of 0.1944 MPa compared to 0.1311 MPa in untreated SW/PP composites. Furthermore, the impact strength of the untreated SW/PP composites is low, at 28.9910 J m(-1), compared to the treated SW/PP composites, which has a higher energy value of 59.5800 J m(-1). Alkaline treatment improves the properties of natural fibers in the composite, according to these findings.