ASSESSMENT OF THE PHYSICAL, MECHANICAL AND WEAR PROPERTIES OF GRASS-CUTTER (THRYONOMYS SWINDERIANUS) KERATINOUS HAIR FIBER BASED POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES

This work aim at investigate the influence of grass-cutter hair fiber (GHF) as reinforcement in polypropylene (PP) composites. The mechanical and water absorption behaviour of the fabricated GHF/PP composites were investigated. From the result, it was observed that at low weight fraction of GHF after treatment, both the mechanical and wear properties were enhanced, which may be attributed to the removal of waxy materials from the fiber surfaces and the addition of oxygenated functional group at the surface and edges of the fibers. While the water absorption capacity of the composites was enhanced due to the presence of hierarchical micro-pores in the composites. Hence, the composites can be used as light-weight engineering materials for automobile applications.