Effect of mechanical activation pretreatment on the properties of sugarcane bagasse/poly(vinyl chloride) composites

This current work is concerned with the pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) by mechanical activation (MA) using a self-designed stirring ball mill and surface modification of SCB using aluminate coupling agent (ACA). The untreated and differently treated SCBs were used to produce composites with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as polymer matrix. The activation grade (A_g) measurement and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of SCB showed that MA enhanced the condensation reaction between ACA and hydroxyl groups of the SCB fibres, which obviously increased the hydrophobicity of SCB. It was found that the mechanical properties of both the PVC composites reinforced by SCB with and without ACA modification increased with increasing milling time (t_M). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that MA pretreatment significantly improved the dispersion of SCB in the composites and interfacial adhesion between SCB and PVC matrix, resulting in better mechanical properties of the composites.