Isothermal crystallization and mechanical behavior of ionomer treated sisal/HDPE composites

Isothermal crystallization behavior and mechanical properties of ionomer-treated sisal fibres reinforced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites have been investigated. Avrami analysis of the crystallization kinetics showed high crystallization rate (Kn) and short crystallization half time (t0.5) for composites compared to neat HDPE, indicating strong nucleating ability of sisal fibres. The crystallization activation energy (Ea) of the composites decreased with increasing fibre content. The polarizing optical microscopy showed the occurrence of transcrystallization at the fibre–matrix interface. The HDPE/sisal composites displayed superior tensile and flexural properties compared to neat HDPE. For these composites, predictions of Young's modulus using the Modified Rule of Mixtures and Cox model correlated well with the experimental data.