ORIGINAL PAPER Preliminary Study of Non-woven Composite: Effect of Needle Punching and Kenaf Fiber Loadings on Non-woven Thermoplastic Composites Prepared From Kenaf and Polypropylene Fiber H. D. Rozman • S. H. Shannon-Ong • A. B. Azizah • G. S. Tay Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract Non-woven composites were produced using kenaf (bast) fiber and polypropylene (PP) fiber. The effects of needle punching process, number of needle and kenaf fiber loadings on the properties of non-woven composite were studied. The aspect ratio of kenaf fiber was also measured in this study. The aspect ratio of most of kenaf fiber used was in the range of 200–400. The results indi- cated that the mechanical strength of the non-woven composite was significantly influenced by the percentage of kenaf fiber. This may due to the evenly mixed kenaf and PP fibers during carding process prior to the mechanical interlocking by needle punching process. The tensile strength, modulus and toughness were enhanced with the incorporation of carded and needle punched fibers. The number of needle used in needle punching process had a significant effect on the strength of the composite. This was evident in SEM micrograph where composite prepared from carded to needle punched non-woven web showed better wettability as compared to composite prepared from carded non-woven web only. However, no significant dif- ference was observed in water absorption and thickness swelling tests for composites prepared with different number of needles. Keywords Non-woven composite  Carding machine  Needle punching process  Kenaf  Lignocellulosic- thermoplastic composite Introduction Recently, there is an increasing trend of utilizing ligno- cellulosic materials as reinforcing agent in various types of composite as substitute for glass fiber. This is due to the drawbacks posed by glass fiber such as non-biodegrad- ability, poor recycling properties, health risk if inhaled, high density and high energy consumption in the prepara- tion of its products, for instance, glass fiber reinforced plastic. Besides the vast advantages offered by lignocel- lulosic material, such as low density, greater deformability, less abrasiveness to equipment, biodegradability, and low cost, some lignocellulosic materials are comparable or superior as compared to glass fiber [1]. Hence, many attempts have been carried out to use various types of lignocellulosic material to produce thermoplastic-lig- nocellulosic composites [2–11]. In Malaysia, kenaf is a new type of agriculture crop which can produce fibers with excellent strength and has great potential to be used as a raw material for non-woven material [8]. In addition, recently, kenaf has been identified by the Malaysian government and the national kenaf and Tobacco Board as a strategic crop. Thus, various industries have to be established to support this initiative. Kenaf has long ben recognized as potential raw material for various types of value-added product. It is believed that these lig- nocellulosic materials could be utilized in automotive and building market. However, in producing a good thermoplastic-lig- nocellulosic composite, in terms of mechanical properties, interaction between fiber and matrix and a homogenous mixture between them must be achieved. Without this, stress concentration point will be easily created in the composite system. In the past few decades, natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites were prepared using H. D. Rozman  S. H. Shannon-Ong  A. B. Azizah  G. S. Tay (&) School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang, Malaysia e-mail: taygs@usm.my 123 J Polym Environ DOI 10.1007/s10924-013-0599-6