Use of flax-g-poly(MMA) as reinforcing material for enhancement of properties of phenol formaldehyde composites

The present article deals with synthesis of phenol-formaldehyde (PF) matrix-based composites using raw flax and flax graft copolymers as reinforcing agents. Prior to use of the graft copolymer as reinforcing material, its strength vis-a-vis that of raw flax was studied. Composites thus prepared were subjected to the evaluation of different mechanical properties such as wear test, tensile strength, and compressive strength. It has been observed that the composites reinforced with raw flax were more wear-resistant than the graft copolymer-reinforced composites. In the case of tensile strength, composites reinforced with grafted flax showed more extension, but required higher force (175N) at break-point than composites reinforced with raw flax, which failed at 150N. Phenol-formaldehyde composite with grafted fiber reinforcement was found to show more compressive strength (800N) than flax reinforcement. Moreover, the water-repellency property of the fiber could be improved on grafting with methyl methacrylate (MMA), whereas the raw flax was found to be more vulnerable to moisture.