The effects of aluminum trihydroxide (ATH) coating on kenaf fibers on the properties such as limiting oxygen index, thermal stability, thermal expansion, dynamic mechanical properties, and tensile properties of biocomposites composed of kenaf fibers and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) are studied. It has been found that with increasing the ATH coating concentration the kenaf fiber surfaces are changed and the surfaces become rougher as there is an increase in the surface area due to the distributed ATH particles. The ATH coating on the kenaf fibers results in the enhancement of not only limiting oxygen index (LOI), which is closely relevant to retardancy, but also thermal stability, thermo-dimensional stability, storage modulus, and tensile properties of kenaf fiber/PLA biocomposites, depending on the ATH coating concentration. ATH coating with an appropriate concentration significantly contributes to imparting fire resistance and also to reinforcing this biocomposite system.

천연섬유와 poly(lactic acid)(PLA)로 구성된 바이오복합재료의 한계산소지수, 열안정성, 열팽창, 동역학특성, 인장특성에 미치는 여러 농도의 aluminum trihydroxide(ATH)로 코팅한 케나프섬유의 영향을 연구하였다. ATH 코팅농도가 증가함에 따라 케나프섬유 표면이 변화되며, 분포된 ATH 입자들에 의해 표면이 더 rough해지고 표면적도 높게 관찰되었다. 케나프섬유의 ATH 코팅은 케나프섬유/PLA 바이오복합재료의 한계산소지수(LOI) 뿐만 아니라 열안정성, 열치수안정성, 저장탄성률과 인장특성을 향상시키며, 이는 ATH 코팅농도에 따라 좌우된다. 적절한 농도의 ATH 코팅이 바이오복합재료에 난연성을 부여하는 동시에 보강효과에도 중요하게 기여하였다.

Keywords: biocomposites; kenaf fiber; poly(lactic acid); limiting oxygen index; material properties; aluminum trihydroxide coating