Walnut Fibre Reinforced Polyethylene Terepthalate (PET) Composite

This study is on the effects of acetic acid treatment on mechanical properties of walnut fibre reinforced Polyethylene Terepthalate (PET) composite. Chemical compositions (in terms of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) of the acetic acid treated walnut fibre samples were determined. And effects of chemical concentration, mass/volume ratio and time on cellulose yield were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine surface morphologies of the acetic acid treated samples. Furthermore, cellulose yields of acetic acid treated - fibres were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The Composites were produced by compounding walnut fibre samples with the PET. Effects of fibre/PET ratio, temperature and time on the mechanical properties (tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength) of the composite were determined. And central composite design of design expert software was used to optimize tensile strength of each composite. Analysis of the results showed that walnut fibre contains cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The order of chemical composition is cellulose > hemicellulose > lignin.