Evaluation of Suitability of Palmyra Fibre as a Replacement for Coconut Fibre in Carbon Black Filled Natural Rubber Composites
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Natural rubber (NR) consists of cis 1,4 polyisoprene. It is an example of elastomeric type
polymer, where the polymer has the ability to return to its original shape after being stretched or
deformed. Fillers are materials that are particulate in nature, which are added to rubber mixes to
modify the physical and, to a very smaller extent, the chemical properties, also to improve the
processing characteristics and reduce cost (Briggs et al., 2000). Natural fibres are generally
lignocellulose in nature, consisting of helically wound cellulose microfibrils in a matrix of
lignin and hemicellulose. Palmyra fibre is an inexpensive fibre among the various natural fibres
available in the world. It is abundantly available in Sri Lanka, India, like tropical countries and
it’s density is least among all known fibres including coconut fibre. Therefore, the main
objective of this study was to replace coconut fibre with palmyra fibre in carbon black filled
natural rubber composites
Methodology
The current study was carried out at the Rubber Technology and Development Department,
Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL), Telawala Road, Rathmalana. Compound
preparation and laboratory analysis were done at RRISL laboratory. The effect of different
amounts of palmyra fibre on physico-mechanical properties of natural rubber compounds was
investigated and the properties were compared with those of coconut fibre filled natural rubber
compounds. Test pieces were prepared with the rubber compounds to carry out physico-
mechanical testing. The cure characteristics and physico-mechanical properties of the rubber
composites prepared with different loadings of palmyra fibre were investigated. For comparison
purposes, a series of rubber compounds was prepared using coconut fibre, similar to the quantity
of palmyra fibre. Two factor factorial Complete Randomized Design (factorial CRD) was
conducted and data obtained from cure characteristics and physico-mechanical properties tests
were analysed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) with General Linear Model (GLM)
procedure of Minitab 16. Significant means of treatments were separated using the Least
Significant Difference (LSD) (P< 0.05) test.
Description
Keywords
Agriculture, Export Agriculture, Rubber Production, Rubber Technology, Natural Rubber, Plantations