| Abstract: | With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and rational utilization of resources, natural fiber reinforced composites have shown broad development prospects. Apocynum fiber, known as the "king of wild fiber", not only has moisture absorption, air permeability, and good mechanical properties but also has many health-related advantages such as antibacterial properties. In this study, four types of needle-punched Apocynum fiber and ramie fiber mat reinforced polylactic acid(PLA) composites were fabricated. Mechanical and thermal properties of the composites were tested and analyzed. The results showed that compared with those of the ramie fiber finish needle-punched mat reinforced composites, the tensile strength and the tensile modulus of Apocynum fiber finish needle-punched mat reinforced composites had increased by 15.3% and 60.1%, respectively. In comparison, the bending strength and the bending modulus were decreased by 21.8% and 7.6%, respectively. Moreover, compared with the Apocynum fiber finish needled-punched mat reinforced composites and the ramie fiber finish needle-punched mat reinforced composites, the Apocynum 50/ramie 50 finish needle-punched mat reinforced composites had the best tensile and bending properties. The after-fracture morphology was detected by a scanning electron microscope(SEM). The thermal properties of the composites were also characterized. It was found that the thermal properties of the four types of composites showed very similar behaviors. |
