Effect of chemical treatment on mechanical properties of prawn antenna reinforced waste plastic particulates filled polymer composites

In today's world, the need for the alternate materials is escalating nowadays due to the scarcity for the traditional materials. Mostly the composites are reinforced with natural fibers like plant fibers. Only some animal fibers are used as reinforcement in the polymer composites. Due to this there are numerous research works are under progress in identifying the suitable fibers for enhancing the properties of the composites. In this work, the antenna of the prawns is used as reinforcement in the polyester matrix. The influences of the chemical treatments are studied by treating the fibers in three types of chemicals. The fibers are reinforced and filled by waste plastic particulates to enhance the mechanical properties. The fibers are treated with hydrogen peroxide, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. The treated fibers and waste plastic particulates are reinforced to the matrix at fixed weight proportions and the optimum combination levels and treatment were found using ANOVA. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.