Thermal stability, swelling and degradation behaviour of natural fibre based hybrid polymer composites.

Unsaturated Polyester (UP) based composites with 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45 wt% filler content have been fabricated by compression moulding technique. The NaOH treated discontinuous jute fibre has been used along with vinyl silane treated zirconia (ZrO₂) particle as the dispersing phases. The structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The thermal stability of the UP and UP based composites were observed using electronic thermal insulation tester, thermo-gravimetric analyser, differential scanning calorimetry and limiting oxygen index analyser. The swelling behaviour has been investigated in different solutions having a range of pH values. The optimum results were obtained with 35 wt% filler content for UP/Jute/ZrO₂ composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]