Modification of Brazilian Curaua Fibre Properties

Natural fibres extracted from plant bast and other parts are talented resources to the engineering polymers. Especially plant fibres extracted from amazon base are precious with cellulosic resulting stronger to bear mechanical loading. However vegetable fibres are naturally coated with wax and other deposits to protect from environmental attacks and swelling. Hence vegetable fibres need pre-processing before being impregnated into the polymer system. Mercerization is one of the well-known surface treatment method to activate vegetable fibre surface to create stronger bonding with the polymer matrix. Natural fibre was treated with silane solutions of different concentrations. This silanation process influences surface morphology and mechanical properties of natural fibre. This work is part of a research about the development of hybrid composites with Curaua fibers.