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Mechanical Properties of Luffa acutangula-Filled Polypropylene

The value of Luffa acutangula, a species of the melon family, Curcubitaceae as food diminished as the fruit matured. They are then disposed as industrial or domestic waste material. However, the fibers of the matured fruits, also known as lignocelluloses fibers have high mechanical strength and can be used as reinforcing fillers for polymers. In this present study, treated and untreated fibers of Luffa acutangula were loaded as fillers for polypropylene (PP) at 1%, 3% and 5% loading. PP fiber composites loaded with alkali-treated fibers showed lower tensile and impact strength compared to PP fiber composites with untreated fibers. Thermal analysis of the fibers showed that alkali-treated fibers were deprived of the lignin content present in untreated fiber. This led to the lower mechanical properties of the alkali-treated luffa-filled PP composites as compared to its untreated counterpart. Increasing the fiber loading of the composites, increased the tensile and impact strength of untreated luffa-filled PP but decreased the tensile and impact strength of alkali-treated luffa-filled PP. This is in accordance to the removal of the lignin component upon alkali treatment which acts as a strengthening as well as energy absorption component of the fiber.