A new approach for the development of textile waste cotton reinforced composites (T-FRP): Laminated hybridization vs. coupling agents

This paper presents two separate methods to improve the tensile strength (TS) of textile waste cotton reinforced polymer composites (T-FRP) as prospective functional materials with respect to environmental concerns. Two very different methods were designed in order to improve the TS of the composite. In the first method, maleated anhydride polyethylene was added as the coupling agent into the composite composition, whereas in the second method, a totally new glass fiber and glass fabric laminated hybrid composite structure was designed. In this first study, the coupling agent was mixed up to 5 wt% into the composite structure in order to improve the bonding interface between low density polyethylene (LDPE) matrix and cotton waste fibers. The effect of the coupling agent was evaluated and compared with the unmodified one. By contrast, chopped glass (CG) fibers and woven biaxial glass fabrics were introduced into the composite layers with the intention of designing a new hybrid composite structure as a second study. The TS of the materials was evaluated and the fracture surface was assessed with an optical microscope. Consequently, an improvement in TS of 50% and 230% was achieved by the addition of the coupling agent and the creation of a new hybrid composite, respectively.