Fabrication and characterization of biocomposites from acetylated and bleached Agave atroverance L. fibers by grafting of styrene to enhance their thermomechanical, physicochemical, and morphological properties: A new approach

Modification of natural fiber is very crucial to reduce their hydrophilic nature, in addition to enhancing their overall thermomechanical, physicochemical, and morphological properties. Thus, the modified natural fibers could be beneficially used to fabricate a new class of multifunctional biocomposites that should have a suitable agreement with the sustainable environmental development. Here, in this current work, acetylation and bleaching techniques were used to modify the extracted Agave atroverance L. fibers (AALF), and finally, a conspicuous method of modification, namely grafting of styrene monomer to fabricate multifunctional biopolymeric composites. While the grafting process was carried out onto the preliminary modified (both bleached and acetylated) fiber by using potassium persulphate (K 2 S 2 O 8 ) and ammonium persulphate (NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 8 as initiator beneath the catalytic sway of ferrous sulphate (FeSO 4 .7H 2 O) in aqueous media to develop their overall strength, properties, and performances. Notably, the observed values of grafting yield were about 89.57% and 94.86% for bleached grafted and acetylated grafted AALF fiber, respectively. However, the raw, modified, and grafted biopolymeric specimens were characterized by conducting some state-of-the-art instruments like FTIR spectroscopy, SEM analysis, TGA, DTA, and DTG techniques. Additionally, the mechanical properties were investigated by conducting universal testing machine (UTM), which deals with tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and elongation/ductility. The obtained results suggested that the newly fabricated composites possess outstanding physicochemical, thermomechanical, and morphological properties due to the successful graft copolymerization. The maximum tensile strengths were observed around 179.39 and 173.10 MPa for the acetylated grafted and bleached grafted fibers. Thus, they could be beneficially used in various engineering/industrial sectors for sustainable environmental performance as a replacement for hazardous petroleum-based synthetic/conventional ones.