The Effectiveness Of Alkali Ttreatment  And Dispersing Agents In Enhancing The Mechanical Performance Of HDPE/Water Hyacinth Fiber Biocomposites

Wijang Wisnu  Raharjo; Kusuma  Dewi; Bambang  Kusharjanta; Alvin Maulana  Al-Farizy; Nur Ikhsan  Ismail; Anisa  Larasati

doi:10.6180/jase.202601_29(1).0008

The Effectiveness Of Alkali Ttreatment And Dispersing Agents In Enhancing The Mechanical Performance Of HDPE/Water Hyacinth Fiber Biocomposites

Wijang Wisnu Raharjo¹This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Kusuma Dewi², Bambang Kusharjanta¹, Alvin Maulana Al-Farizy², Nur Ikhsan Ismail², and Anisa Larasati²

¹Mechanical Engineering Department, Sebelas Maret University, Jl.Ir.Stunami 36A, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia

²Undergraduate Student of Mechanical Engineering, Sebelas Maret University, Jl.Ir.Stunami 36A, Surakarta, Indonesia

Received: September 23, 2024
Accepted: January 12, 2025
Publication Date: May 1, 2025

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202601_29(1).0008

This study evaluated the effectiveness of alkali treatment and dispersing agents in enhancing the mechanical performance of water hyacinth fiber (WHF)-reinforced High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) biocomposites. Alkali treatment with NaOH solution improved the bonding between water hyacinth fibers and the HDPE matrix. Meanwhile, dispersing agents were employed to enhance the distribution of fibers within the matrix. The combined effect of alkali treatment and dispersing agents on the mechanical performance of the composites was assessed through tensile, flexural, and impact tests. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), macrostructure analysis, density measurements, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses were conducted to provide further insights. The results demonstrated that combining alkali treatment and immersion in a dispersing agent solution for 1 hour (NDA1) produced the best mechanical performance. Compared to untreated fiber-reinforced biocomposites, the tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact strength increased by 32.48%, 27.7%, and 23.9%, respectively.

Keywords: Biocomposite; Dispersing Agent; Water Hyacinth; HDPE; Alkali treatment; Mechanical Performance.

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