Determination of interfacial shear strength of white rot fungi treated hemp fibre reinforced polypropylene

Short untreated and white rot fungi treated hemp fibre, polypropylene (PP) and maleated polypropylene (MAPP) coupling agent were extruded and injection moulded into composite tensile test specimens. The tensile properties of untreated and treated fibre and their composites were measured. The fibre length distributions in the composite were obtained by dissolving the PP/MAPP matrix in boiling xylene to extract the fibre. Both the Single Fibre Pull-Out test and the Bowyer and Bader model were used to determine the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of these composites. IFSS was found to be lower for the Single Fibre Pull-Out test, which was considered to be largely due to axial loading of fibre and the resulting Poisson's contraction occurring during this technique. This suggests that the Bowyer and Bader model provides a more relevant value of IFSS for composites. The results obtained from both methods showed that IFSS of the treated fibre composites was higher than that for untreated fibre composites. This supports that the hemp fibre interfacial bonding with PP was improved by white rot fungi treatment. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.