Study of the use of resins to increase the durability of vegetal fibres to be used as part of the composite Reinforced Cementitious Matrix Fabric

Abstract

Due to more environmental concern in preserving our natural sources from depletion, natural fibre has become an interesting alternative for synthetic fibre in the application of composite structure as they are renewable sources. Unfortunately, some of the inherent flaws own by these natural fibres such as their degradation in the high alkalinity of cement composite has limit their application in the industry. Polymer coating method for the natural fibre has shown some potential in improving their strength and durability. This project is aimed to study the effect of resins to increase the durability of plant fibre to be used as part of Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix. Two different types of natural fibre with a different characteristic which is hemp and cotton fibre were chosen as the subject material to be studied and they were coated with thermoset epoxy and unsaturated polyester resin. The specimens were then exposed to NaOH solution simulating the environment of Portland cement matrix (pH >12). The ultimate tensile strength, tensile modulus and the spectrum from ATR-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR) test of the specimen will be reviewed in this report. The influence of the thermoset coating on hemp and cotton fibre and also ageing process in the alkaline environment will be review and analysed in this report