Influences of various surface pretreatments on the mechanical and degradable properties of photografted oil palm fibers

Abstract Natural‐fiber‐reinforced polymers can exhibit very different mechanical performances and environmental aging resistance depending on their interphase properties. A lack of good interfacial adhesion and poor resistance to moisture absorption make oil palm fibers less attractive as reinforcing agents. To improve the interfacial properties, oil palm fibers were grafted with different percentages of allyl methacrylate (AMA) in methanol. Darocur 2959 was added as a photoinitiator and initiated photochemical polymerization. The fiber surfaces were pretreated by an alkali, KMnO 4 , and dewaxed; this was followed by grafting with AMA to determine the effect of various surface treatments on the physicomechanical properties of grafted fibers. The alkali treatment increased the surface roughness with better impregnation of the polymer, which increased the…