Microstructural and mechanical properties of the plantain fiber/local clay filled hybrid polystyrene composites

The usage of the mechanically extracted plantain stalk fibers and local clay (akerebiata clay) as fillers in solvated polystyrene resin was employed in this study. Hand layup route of composite development method was used, and cured at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C). The microstructural and mechanical properties were elucidated by FTIR, SEM-EDS, Hardness and compressive tests, respectively. Good fiber/clay/polystyrene adhesion and proper matrix-filler were observed via SEM analysis. The changing FTIR peaks with change in clay/fiber content were due to chemical interactions between the hybridized fillers. The results clearly established the direct proportion relation between the clay content and the Young Modulus and vice versa for the case of the plantain fiber.