Volume 10, Issue 2, 2001

THERMAL DEGRADATION OF GREEN AND UPGRADED FLAX FIBRES

J. George¹, E.T.J. Klompen¹ and T. Peijs^2*

¹Eindhoven Polymer Laboratories, Eindhoven University of Technology, P. O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

²Department of Materials, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. E-mail: t.peijs@qmw.ac.uk

^*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

(Received 2/01; accepted 4/01)

ABSTRACT

Over the last couple of years, an increasing amount of research has been dedicated to the use of flax fibres as an environmentally friendly alternative to glass fibres in engineering composites. Because of the relatively poor thermal stability of flax fibres compared to glass fibres, knowledge of the thermal degradation profile of these natural fibres is essential for the selection of potential matrix candidates and/or the development of feasible processing and recycling routes. Especially in combination with thermoplastic resins, composite (re)processing may have a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties of the natural fibres. This study reports on the effect of the exposure of two types of flax fibres, green flax and a new upgraded flax fibre called Duralin, to elevated temperatures using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), residual strength measurements and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) studies.