Tensile Characteristics of Cotton Fabrics/PLA Composites
Chen Jieng-Chiang (1)*, Wu Chang-Mou (2), Yang Chin-Chih (3)
(1) Department of Product Design, Vanung University - Chungli - Taiwan, (2) Dep. of Mat. Sci. and Eng., National Taiwan University of Sci. and Tech. - Taipei - Taiwan, (3) Department of Materials Science and Eng., Vanung University - Chungli - Taiwan
Cotton plain fabrics were used to reinforce polylactic acid (PLA) resin to make green composite materials. The PLA has been modified with PPgMA to improve the interface properties between cotton and the PLA. Various contents (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12%)of PPgMA were added into the PLA to improve the adhesion and toughness of the PLA. TGA was applied to analysis the thermal stability of the modified PLA. In addition, the tensile characteristics of the modified PLA and the cotton plain fabrics reinforced composites are discussed in current study. Furthermore, the failure modes for the PLA and composites after the test were observed by SEM. The results show that the tensile strength and modulus increased with increasing the amount of PPgMA. The PPgMA enhanced the cohesion and compatibility between cotton fiber and PLA resin. The optimal amount of PPgMA was 6%.