Mercerized flax-g-poly(polyvinyl alcohol + acrylic acid) reinforced polyester resin derived from waste plastic bottles: dynamic mechanical analysis and chemical-thermal resistance

The aim of present work is to fabricate a polyester composite reinforced with mercerized flax-g-poly(polyvinyl alchol + acrylic acid) copolymer. In addition, a comparative study of mechanical properties using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) technique was made as a function of reinforcement of matrix with raw flax (rFlax) and mercerized flax (mFlax) in order to be able to use such composites in water resistant wall panelling, cupboards and furniture tops. Polyester resin was derived from waste plastic bottles. Binary vinyl monomer mixture of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and acrylic acid (AA) was graft copolymerized onto mFlax and a graft yield of 118.3% was obtained. Grafted mFlax showed higher acid–base, solvent and thermal resistance. Composites prepared were studied for different mechanical parameters like storage modulus, loss modulus and damping. The mFlax-g-poly(PVA + AA) reinforced composite showed higher storage modulus (E’) and exhibited higher Tanδ value which indicated superior damping properties. A higher glass transition temperature was also observed, which was further supported by thermal studies. The novelty of the present work is the approach of waste to wealth, in which chemically modified textile waste and recycled plastic resins were used in the preparation of composites. The mechanical properties obtained through DMA showed that the composite reinforced with chemically modified flax had better storage modulus, loss modulus and damping properties.

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