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Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.8 (2): 1103-1108. 2010

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The effect of alkali treatment on the mechanical properties of short pineapple leaf
fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites
J. P. Siregar 1, S. M. Sapuan 1*, M. Z. A. Rahman 2 and H. M. D. K. Zaman 3
1

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor,
Malaysia. 2 Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. 3 Radiation Processing
Technology Division, Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
*e-mail: sapuan@eng.upm.edu.my, drsapuan@yahoo.com
Received 22 September 2009, accepted 2 April 2010.

Abstract
This paper reported the study of the effect of the alkali (NaOH) treatment on the mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high
impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of alkali (NaOH) treatment with different
concentration of NaOH (0%, 2% and 4%) solution. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural
modulus, notched and unnotched impact and hardness of short pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites
were studied and compared. NaOH concentration of 4% that was used for the short PALF treatment showed the highest mechanical properties value
compared to the other concentration.
Key words: Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF), alkali treatment, high impact polystyrene (HIPS).

Introduction
The incorporation of lignocellulosic fibres into a thermoplastics
or thermosetting polymer is often associated with poor fibre
dispersion due to the large differences in polarity between the
fibres and polymer, and strong intermolecular hydrogen bond
between the fibres. To obtain a satisfactory performance from the
composite, it is necessary to have a good fibre distribution within
the matrix. A good distribution implies that the fibres are fully
separated from each other, and each fibre is fully surrounded by
the matrix 1.
The mechanical properties of a natural fibre reinforced composite
are determined depending on many parameters, such as fibre
strength, modulus, fibre length and orientation, in addition to the
fibre-matrix interfacial bond strength. A strong fibre-matrix interface
bond is very critical for composites to have high mechanical
properties. A good interfacial bond is also required for effective
stress from the matrix to the fibre whereby maximum utilization of
the fibre strength in the composite is achieved 2. The interfaces
act as a binder and transfers load between the matrix and the
reinforcing fibres. Hence the interface plays a key role in
controlling the mechanical properties of composites 3.
Therefore, to improve the interface and adhesion between the
fibre and the matrix, a third component, which is called
compatibilizer, must be used for matrix modification or the fibres
surface have to be initially modified for the preparation of the
composites 4, 5. Some studies have shown the influence of various
types of chemical modifications on the performance of natural
fibres and the fibre reinforced composites. The different surface
chemical modifications of natural fibre such as alkali treatment,
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment,Vol.8 (2), April 2010

silane treatment, isocyanate treatment, latex coating, permanganate

treatment, acetylation, monomer grafting under UV radiation, etc.
have received various levels of success in improving fibre strength
and fibre matrix adhesion in natural fibre composites.
Alkali treatment of cellulosic fibres, also called mercerization, is
the usual method that often used by some researches to produce
a high quality fibres to reinforce polymer matrix. As seen in Table
1, all types of natural fibre, such as hemp, jute, ramie, henequen,
curaua, flax, etc., have been treated with the sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) before mixed together with the polymer (thermoplastics
or thermosetting) to produce composites 6-27. The concentration
of alkali solution that was used to treat the fibres is in the range of
0.5% up to 28%, but most of the researchers used below 10%
alkali solution. The temperature and soaking time to treat the
natural fibre in the solution are in the range of 20-180C and 15
minutes to 48 h period of time, respectively. The required
temperature to dry a natural fibre should be below 80C for 24 to
48 h period of time.
Pickering et al. 6 studied the optimising of industrial hemp
fibre for composites. The hemp fibre was treated with the alkali in
the range of 10% or 15% solution, and the temperature and soaking
time were in the range of 160C or 180C and 15 or 45 min,
respectively. They found that using the treated alkali with
concentration 10% for 15 or 45 min period of time and treated
alkali with concentration of 15% for 15 min period of time at
temperature of 160C could produce stronger fibres. Therefore, it
is concluded that with the increase in fibre strength for treatment
has been contributed to the increase of packing density and
1103

Table 1. The alkali (NaOH) treatment of some natural fibres.

Fibre
Hemp
Jute
Ramie
Henequen
Curaua
Flax
Kenaf
Sisal
PALF
Bagasse
Piassava
Oil palm
Coir
Kenaf
Henequen
Hemp
Jute
Sisal
Coir
Jute
Hemp

NaOH
(%)
10 or 15
Up to 28
15
2
10
1, 2, 3
3, 6, 9
2
5
1, 3, 5
10
0.5, 1, 2, 4
5
6
2
6
5
10
2
2
0.8-8

Soaking time
15 or 45 min
30 min
2h
1h
20 min
3h
4h
30 min
2h
48 h
48 h
1h
48 h
4 and 24 h
1h
1h
1h
48 h

Soaking
temperature (C)
160 or 180
20
25
Room temperature
Room temperature
60
25
Room temperature
192
25
202
25
70
70
202

Drying

Reference

80C for 48 h
60C for 24 h
80C for 48 h
Room temperature for 48h
80C 24 h
60C for 24 h
70C for 72 h
70C, until constant weight
110C for 5 h
60C for 24 h
60C for 48 h
80C, until constant weight
70C, until constant weight
70C, until constant weight
-

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19, 20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

molecular orientation due to the removal of the cementing materials

(i.e. lignin, pectin and hemicellulose). The decrease in strength in
other treatments was due to the degradation of cellulose with
high NaOH concentrations at the temperatures above 160C.
Herrera-Franco et al. 9 studied the mechanical properties of short
natural-fibre reinforced composites. The surface henequen fibre
was treated with alkali and silane, and it was found that the tensile
strength of the HDPE/henequen fibres (80:20 v/v) composites
with an aqueous NaOH or with the pre-impregnation process did
not really improve the tensile strength if compared to other
modifications.
Rout et al. 25 investigated the effect of alkali treatment of coir
fibre in polyester/coir composite system. It was reported that using
2% alkali-treated coir/polyester composites showed a significant
improvement of the tensile strength. Valadez-Gonzalez et al. 21
reported that using alkali treatment for henequen fibre improved
the fibre/matrix mechanical interlocking as well as the interaction
between fibre and matrix.
Ray et al. 28 have observed the effects of 5% NaOH treatment of
jute fibre at room temperature for several varying times (2, 4, 6 and
8 h). The composite that was prepared with previously treated
fibres showed the maximum improvement for all volume percentage
of fibre loadings. The flexural strength properties of the composites
at 35% volume fibre loading after being treated for 4 h with alkali
treatment was 238.9 MPa in contrast to the result of 199.1 MPa
that was obtained for composites with untreated fibres.
From the reviews and results of the effect of alkali treatment for
natural fibre by previous researchers, it can be concluded that
using alkali (NaOH) solution to treat the natural fibre is one of the
chemical treatment methods that can improve the mechanical
properties of natural fibre reinforced polymer composite. The alkali
treatment can lead to the decrease in the spiral angle and the
increase in the molecular orientation of the cellulose chain 7. The
alkali treatments generally result in a rougher fibre topography,
which can further improve the fibre matrix adhesion in a composite
by providing additional sites for mechanical interlocking 21, 26. The
alkali (NaOH) is the most common method that has been used for
the treatment of natural fibre because this method is inexpensive20.
1104

In this study, treatment of the short PALF was carried out using
many different concentrations of alkali. The chemical treatment
(NaOH) used in this study was expected to be able to improve the
mechanical properties of short pineapple leaf fibre (PALF)
reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites.
Materials and Methods
Materials: The pineapple leaf fibre (Ananas comosus) was
obtained from Pemalang, Central of Java, Indonesia. The size of
pineapple leaf fibre that was used in this research is a 10-40 mesh.
The high impact polystyrene (HIPS) that has been utilised as the
matrix polymer is the Idemitsu PS HT 50 that has density of 1.04
g/cm3 and is produced by the Petrochemical (M) Sdn Bhd, Pasir
Gudang, Johor, Malaysia. The sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was
supplied by the Aldrich Chemical Company, Malaysia.
Alkali (NaOH) treatment: The short pineapple leaf fibre was
soaked in different concentrations (0%, 2% and 4%) of NaOH
solution in the water bath for 1 hour at room temperature. The
ratio of the fibres and the solution was 1:20 (w/v). After treatment,
the fibres were washed and rinsed several times with distilled
water. Afterwards the fibres were dried in an oven at 80C for 24
hours.
Compounding: A 50 wt.% untreated and treated fibre content of
short PALF/HIPS composite was chosen in order to determine the
effect of using different concentration of alkali for treatments on
the mechanical properties of short PALF/HIPS composites. The
short PALF was mixed into the HIPS matrix using a Brabender
Plasticorder intensive mixer, model PL2000-6 for 15 minutes at 165C
and with 50 rpm screw speed.
Compression molding: The melt compounded mixture that was
obtained from the previous process before was placed in the
compression molding (Carver hot press) at 165C temperature and
endured the process of preheated for 5 min, fully press heated for
5 min and followed by cooling for 5 min and afterward was formed
into sheets with the dimensions of 150 mm x 150 mm x 3 mm.
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.8 (2), April 2010

The specimens for the mechanical test were obtained from the
composites sheets that were formed according to ASTM standards.
Mechanical testing:
Tensile testing: All tension testing specimens were cut into a
dog-bone shape. The tensile test were conducted following the
standard of ASTM D638 type V using Instron (Model 4301)
universal testing machine with load cell of 1 kN and using
crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. The test was performed until the
tensile failure occurred. There were seven specimens that have
been tested, but only the result of five specimens was calculated
to get the average tensile value.

Table 2. The effect of alkali treatment of short PALF on the

mechanical properties of short PALF/HIPS.
Mechanical property
Tensile strength (MPa)
Tensile modulus (MPa)
Flexural strength (MPa)
Flexural modulus (MPa)
Notched impact (J/m)
Unnotched impact (J/m)

Rockwell hardness strength: Hardness is generally used to

describe a resistance of material to surface indentation, scratching
or marring. The experiment was carried out using the Rockwell
Hardness Tester HA-101 in accordance to ASTM D 785 procedure
B. The Rockwell hardness was measured using a 0.625 mm ball
and 60 kg of indent force (Rockwell scale L).
Results and Discussion
From the results in Table 2 it can be seen that each of the three
alkali treatment variables had effects on the tensile strength, tensile
modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, impact notched,
impact unnotched and hardness of the short PALF reinforced
HIPS composites. The increased concentration of alkali treatment
from 0% to 4% of NaOH increased the mechanical properties of
PALF/HIPS composites.
Effect of alkali treatment on tensile properties: The effects of
alkali treatments (0%, 2%, and 4%) of short PALF fibres on the
tensile strength and tensile modulus were examined using the
treated fibre (50% weight) composites. As seen from Figs 1 and 2,
the 2% NaOH-treated fibre composites improved the tensile
strength and tensile modulus by 12% and 31%, respectively,
compared with the untreated fibre composites. With further
increase of the NaOH concentration to 4%, the tensile strength
and tensile modulus were also increased to 24% and 35%,
respectively, in comparison to the untreated fibre HIPS composites.
The enhancement in mechanical properties in alkali-treated
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment,Vol.8 (2), April 2010

Note: Values are average of five samples determinations. Values in parentheses are standard deviations.

Tensile strength (MPa)

Izod impact strength: Izod impact test has been used extensively
to determine the impact resistance of any materials. The Izod
impact test was carried out for the notched and unnotched samples
with dimensions of 63.5 mm x 12.7 mm x 3 mm. The Izod impact
strength is reported as energy per unit notch (J/m). The pendulum
energy that was employed for the testing purpose was 4 Joule.
This test was carried out according to ASTM D256-93.

Hardness scale L

Figure 1. Effect of alkali concentration on tensile strength of PALF/

HIPS composites.

Tensile modulus (MPa)

Flexural testing: Three points bend testing was carried out

following the ASTM D790-97. The test methods are for flexural
properties of unreinforced and reinforced plastics and electrical
insulation materials. The similar Instron universal testing machine
(Model 4301) that has been used for the tensile test was also used
in this experiment for flexural testing. The applied load and the
crosshead speed were specified at 1 kN and 1.3 mm/min,
respectively, while the support span was 48 mm. For flexural test
the samples were prepared and cut into rectangular specimens
with 127 mm (L) x 12.7 mm (W) x and 3 mm (T) dimensions.

NaOH concentration, %
0
2
4
22.640
25.717
29.955
(1.250)
(1.251)
(1.356)
824.646
1197.751
1284.845
(156.374)
(66.431)
(133.881)
31.661
34.371
40.789
(3.251)
(1.832)
(2.496)
4294.024
4464.058
4559.339
(399.515)
(122.408)
(280.989)
24.39
47.164
52.417
(1.342)
(3.187)
(1.580)
45.460
64.615
76.959
(2.764)
(1.124)
(5.535)
84.120
89.260
90.820
(0.614)
(1.124)
(0.709)

Figure 2. Effect of alkali concentration on tensile modulus of PALF/

HIPS composites.

(2% and 4%) fibre composites is attributed to the improved wetting

of alkali-treated short PALF with HIPS.
Similar results were found by Jacob et al. 29 in case of sisal/oil
palm hybrid fibre reinforced natural rubber composites. The fibres
were treated with different concentrations of NaOH (0.5, 1, 2, 4
and 10%) for 1 hour at room temperature. It was found that the
maximum tensile strength was obtained for the fibres that have
been treated previously with 4% NaOH. Nevertheless after the
alkali treatment, the diameter and weight of the fibres were
decreased due to the removal of lignin.
1105

Effect of alkali treatment on notched and unnotched impact

properties: The impact properties could determine the ability of a
material to withstand an impact load, which ability depends on
material toughness. The effect of alkali (NaOH) treatment on the
notched and unnotched impact of short PALF/HIPS composite is
shown in Figs 5 and 6. The untreated fibre has a lower value of
notched and unnotched impact strength compared to 2% and 4%
alkali-treated fibre. The increase of NaOH concentration from 2%
to 4% increased the impact strength of composites from 47.164 to
52.417 J/m for notched impact and from 64.615 to 75.959 J/m for
unnotched impact, respectively. Also Rout et al. 25 found that for
treatment of coir fibre, increasing concentration of NaOH from
2% to 5% increased the impact strength of coir/polyester from
521.9 to 634.6 J/m. Meanwhile, the increased alkali concentration
up to 10% decreased the impact strength of composites.

1106

Flexural strength (MPa)

Figure 3. Effect of alkali concentration on flexural strength of PALF/

HIPS composites.

Flexural modulus (MPa)

Effect of alkali treatment on flexural properties: Figs 3 and 4

show the flexural properties of short PALF/HIPS composites by
alkali-treated fibres. The trend of histogram of flexural strength
and flexural modulus are similar with the trend of tensile strength
and tensile modulus above. The increased alkali concentration
also increased the flexural strength gradually. The flexural strength
of untreated fibre was 31.661 MPa, meanwhile for the 2% and 4%
of alkali concentration treatments 34.371 MPa and 40.789 MPa ,
respectively. It is also shown that the flexural modulus of untreated
fibre is 4294.515 MPa, whereas for 2% and 4% NaOH concentration
treatments about 4464.068 MPa and 4559.339 MPa, respectively.
Cao et al. 15 reported that for composites composed of the
biodegradable polyester and bagasse fibre, the flexural strength
and flexural modulus were increased when fibre was treated with
1% NaOH solution compared to untreated fibre.

The effect of alkali treatment on hardness properties: Fig. 7 shows

the Rockwell hardness results of short PALF/HIPS composite.
With alkali treatment of 2% and 4% NaOH the hardness value of
composites increased. The lowest result of the hardness test,
84.120, derived from the untreated short PALF composite,
meanwhile for the short PALF treated with 2% and 4% NaOH, the
obtained results for the hardness test had better values, 89.260
and 90.260.

Figure 4. Effect of alkali concentration on flexural modulus of

PALF/HIPS composites.

Energy (J/m)

The superior tensile strength value of alkali-treated could be

attributed to the fact that the alkali treatment improved the adhesive
characteristics of fibre surface by removing natural and artificial
impurities which thereby producing a rough surface topography.
In addition, alkali treatment leads to fibre fibrillation, i.e. breaking
down of the fibre bundles into smaller fibres. This has increased
the chance of the effective surface area to be more available for
contact with matrix polymer 30.
Contrary results were found by George et al. 31 with the case of
different alkali concentration to improve adhesion of PALF/PE
composites. The PALF was treated with different concentrations
of NaOH (1% and 5%) and when the PALF was treated with 1%
NaOH, the mechanical properties of longitudinally oriented PALF/
PE composites at different fibre loading were improved. Meanwhile
when using 5% NaOH the tensile strength and tensile modulus
were decreased. It was also concluded that using the higher
concentration of alkali (5%) for treatment will cause the fibre to
lose its characteristics. On the other hand, when using lower
concentration of NaOH for treatment, the complete removal of
lignin on the fibres is not possible. Fibres become thinner upon
alkali treatment. This may be due to dissolution and leaching of
fatty acids and some of the lignin component of the fibre. As the
result, the surface of the fibre becomes rough, and will promote
mechanical anchoring between fibre and matrix.

Figure 5. Effect of alkali concentration on notched impact of

PALF/HIPS composites.

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.8 (2), April 2010

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Energy (J/m)

Scale (L)

Figure 6. Effect of alkali concentration on unnotched impact of

PALF/HIPS composites.

Figure 7. Effect of alkali concentration on hardness of PALF/

HIPS composites.

Conclusions
The effect of alkali treatment of short pineapple leaf fibre on the
mechanical properties of PALF/HIPS composites was studied. The
NaOH concentrations of 2% and 4% used to treat the fibre
increased the value of all mechanical properties of composites
such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural
modulus, notched and unnotched impact and hardness. The
maximum improvement of the mechanical properties of short
pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene
(PALF) was obtained from the experiment of treated PALF with
4% NaOH. It can be concluded that the adhesion of fibre/matrix
can be improved by treating the short PALF fibres with alkali
solution before production of a composite.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Ministry of Higher Education
Malaysia for funding the research through Fundamental Research
Grant Scheme (FRGS) grant number 5523413. Thanks are also due
to the staff of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Selangor, Malaysia,
for their support to carry out this research.
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Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.8 (2), April 2010