The need to preserve nature has led researchers to explore new natural fibers for biodegradable biocomposites. Present work explored first time the thermo-physico-chemical, morphological, and mechanical properties of Yucca treculeana (YT) fiber with a density of 1.330 ± 0.039 g/cm3. The estimated chemical analysis of YT fiber is 82.3%, 12.1%, and 5.6% for cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, respectively. The surface chemistry, crystallinity, and functional groups of YT fibers were analyzed by XPS, XRD, and FTIR, respectively. The concentration levels of carbon (62.88%) and oxygen (33.72%) were detected by XPS. XRD analysis showed that the YT fiber has a crystallite size of 3.02 nm and a crystallinity index of 48.85%. Based on the thermal analysis by TGA, the results show thermal stability of the YT fiber up to 360.6°C. The average mechanical properties of the fiber are 222 MPa for the tensile strength, 2.47% for the strain at break and the Young’s modulus is equal to 16.85 GPa. In addition, the results obtained in this study were compared with those found in the related literature. All these results prove that YT fiber can be used as reinforcement in making lightweight industrial biocomposites with thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers.
In this study, biocomposites fibers (flax/epoxy) with different fiber ratios were manufactured and their tensile, 3-point bending and morphological properties were characterized. The interfacial binding of fractured composite samples after tensile and 3-point bending tests were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical results revealed an increase in the composite sample manufactured by second formulation CT090 (biocomposites UD [0/90°]s treated by NaHCO3) compared to the different formulations studied. For example, the stress and Young’s modulus values of qua-static traction of the biocomposite CT090 treated with sodium bicarbonate are obtained to be 70.13 MPa and 1420.47 MPa, respectively. The overall test results stated that bio sodium carbonate treatment enhanced the mechanical and morphological properties of the biocomposites in this study. Finally, the experimental results were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using MINITAB software.