Technological watch

This research experimentally synthesizes bamboo fiber?reinforced biocomposites by using bamboo fiber (BF) as filler material and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) as biodegradable polymer matrix. The experimental filler materials included alkaline?treated BF and untreated BF. The alkali treatment of BF was carried out to remove the hydrophobic components from the BF surface. The PBS/BF ratios were varied between 90/10, 80/20, and 70/30 (w/w). The experiments revealed that the tensile strength of PBS/treated BF biocomposites were higher than that of PBS/untreated BF ones, independent of BF content. Elongation at break decreased with increase in BF content, while Young's modulus increased as BF content increased. The Izod impact strength of the biocomposites were similar to that of neat PBS. The water absorption capacity of PBS/BF biocomposites increased with increase in BF content. The water uptake of alkali?treated BF was higher than that of untreated BF as lignin and hemicellulose were removed from the BF surface. The novelty of this research lies in the use of biodegradable PBS polymer as biocomposite matrix reinforced with natural fiber, as opposed to conventional petroleum?based non?biodegradable polymers. Moreover, this research also performed water absorption experiments to characterize the effect of alkali treatment on bamboo fibers. The characteristic of biocomposites is appropriate to be used as packaging and indoor furniture parts.