Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184

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Composites: Part A
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesa

Thermomechanical properties of bio-based composites made from a

lactic acid thermoset resin and flax and flax/basalt fibre reinforcements
Fatimat O. Bakare, Sunil Kumar Ramamoorthy, Dan Åkesson, Mikael Skrifvars ⇑
Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, 501 90 Borås, Sweden

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Low viscosity thermoset bio-based resin was synthesised from lactic acid, allyl alcohol and pentaerythri-
Available online 9 September 2015 tol. The resin was impregnated into cellulosic fibre reinforcement from flax and basalt and then compres-
sion moulded at elevated temperature to produce thermoset composites. The mechanical properties of
Keywords: composites were characterised by flexural, tensile and Charpy impact testing whereas the thermal prop-
A. Thermosetting resin erties were analysed by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermogravimetric analysis
B. Fabrics/textiles (TGA). The results showed a decrease in mechanical properties with increase in fibre load after 40 wt.%
C. Mechanical testing
for the neat flax composite due to insufficient fibre wetting and an increase in mechanical properties with
D. Compression moulding
increase fibre load up to 60 wt.% for the flax/basalt composite. The results of the ageing test showed that
the mechanical properties of the composites deteriorate with ageing; however, the flax/basalt composite
had better mechanical properties after ageing than the flax composite before ageing.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
There have been increased challenges in modern society when
it comes to needs such as food, fuel, energy and materials. These
needs are largely dependent on the diminishing fossil resources,
which are caused by more advancement in science and technology
enabling mankind to consume more of the fossil resources.
Another factor is also the increase in human population and mod-
ern lifestyles that have led to the depletion of these resources. The
government, industries and academia are making an effort into
finding a sustainable solution and encouraging the usage of sus-
tainable materials for production. The uses of sustainable materials
have been encouraged due to the environmental problems from
the generation of gases and volatile organic compounds caused
by the usage of the fossil resources [1–4]. This problem has shifted
the attention of scientists to use agricultural-based biomass to gen-
erate biodegradable bio-based composites. Focus on the use of bio-
based composites has increased due to the fact that they are abun-
dant, inexpensive, eco-friendly, lightweight and biodegradable.
Over the years, there has been an increased use of composites
made from natural fibre reinforcements and polymer matrices
from renewable resources as an alternative to glass fibre-
reinforced composites. This is due to their low cost, low density,
low energy consumption, renewability, carbon dioxide neutrality
⇑ Corresponding author.
and also their high strength to weight ratio [5–9]. The advantage
of having high specific strength to weight ratio has made them
very important in the transportation application sector. This has
led to reduction in weight and thereby reducing fuel consumption
[10]. Research studies on natural fibres from renewable resources
like jute, sisal, hemp, flax and kenaf as reinforcement with unsatu-
rated polyester resins [4,5] and epoxies [7,8] have been reported.
Among the natural fibres, flax has shown interesting mechanical
properties with a density of 1.45 g/cm3 and stiffness comparable
to glass fibre [8]. Several studies have been conducted on use of
flax fibre reinforcements with epoxy resins [7,8,11,12], vinyl ester
resin [9] and from plant oil resins such as soybean oil [4,13–15],
which have all shown good mechanical properties in the prepara-
tion of composites. Åkesson et al. [16] recently used a non-woven
flax mat with a lactic acid-based thermoset resin for composite
preparation. This composite had relatively good mechanical prop-
erties, but the resin had very high viscosity, which is a major draw-
back when impregnating the resin into reinforcement.
Recently, we have reported the synthesis of a branched ther-
mosetting resin from glycerol and lactic acid with methacrylate
end-groups [17]. This resin had a viscosity of about 1 Pa s at room
temperature, which is too high to facilitate good impregnation of
the fibres. According to Li et al., the resin flow viscosity is a very
significant parameter in the manufacturing of composites; specifi-
cally, the viscosity needs to be below 5 Poise (0.5 Pa s) [18]. Based
on this, we then synthesised a bio-based resin from lactic acid, allyl
alcohol and pentaerythritol (PMLA resin) [19]. The resin is

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2015.09.002
1359-835X/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184
functionalised with methacrylate end-groups and has a relatively
low viscosity of about 0.02 Pa s at room temperature, which facil-
itates impregnation of the fibres. The crosslinking can be done by
free radical polymerisation.
In this study, composites from this PMLA resin and flax rein-
forcements were prepared. By preparing this composite, the possi-
bility of producing composite with improved mechanical and
thermal properties may be achieved. With the use of the PMLA
resin, which has a much lower viscosity, it will facilitate a better
impregnation in fibre reinforcement and result in composites with
almost 100% bio-based content, compared to the previous similar
composites prepared by Åkesson et al. [16]. Two flax fibre fabrics
were used: one consisting of only flax fibres and the other having
a combination of flax fibre with basalt fibre. Basalt fibres are
obtained by the extrusion of melted basalt rock [20–25] and con-
tain three silicate minerals, namely, pyroxene, plagioclase and oli-
vine. The first two can be found in glass fibre, but the olivine, which
is a silicate containing high levels of magnesium and iron oxides,
distinguishes it from glass fibre [20]. The advantages of having high
content of iron oxides include excellent thermal resistance,
enhanced operating temperature and excellent mechanical proper-
ties, and this has increased the industrial and academic interest to
use basalt fibres as reinforcements in composites [20,21,25]. The
flax/basalt fabric has better properties because of the basalt’s high
modulus, excellent interfacial shear strength and equivalent ten-
sile strength, compared to glass fibre [22,23].
The two different reinforcement types, neat flax fibre and flax/
basalt hybrid fibre, were compared by varying their fibre content
and then characterising the composites for flexural, tensile and
Charpy impact properties. Dynamical mechanical thermal analysis,
thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) were also used to characterise the composites. The ageing
test was done by subjecting the composites to accelerated ageing
condition as a real time aged composite. Water absorption of the
composites was also done to investigate the water uptake and
the stability of the composites in order to evaluate its use in out-
door applications.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
Bio-based resin synthesised from lactic acid, allyl alcohol and
pentaerythritol (PMLA resin) was used as matrix in the composite
preparation, and the structure is shown in Fig. 1. The resin was
synthesised according to the method previously reported [19].
Two different types of woven flax fabrics were used as reinforce-
ments in the preparation of the composites. The characteristics of
the fabrics are stated in Table 1, and their structures are shown
in Fig. 2. Both fabrics were supplied by Libeco Technical, Belgium.
Fig. 1. Idealized chemical structure of the PMLA resin.
177
Benzoyl peroxide, supplied by Kebo Lab, was used as the free rad-
ical initiator for the resin crosslinking.
2.2. Composite preparation
The reinforcement mats were cut in 21
21 cm size and dried
in vacuum oven at 105 °C for one hour. The resin impregnation
was done by hand lay-up. The resin was first mixed with 2 wt.%
of benzoyl peroxide, and then it was applied onto the surface of
the fibre sheet. The laminates had eight sheets of woven flax/basalt
fabrics and five sheets of woven flax fabrics in respective laminate
type. The fabric stacks were then compression moulded in a Rondol
hydraulic press for 5 min at 160 °C and at 0.5–4 MPa pressure. The
exact pressure was selected depending on the desired fibre con-
tent, to get well impregnated laminates. This procedure gave lam-
inates with an approximate thickness of about 3–3.5 mm.
Composites made from three different fibre load ratios (60:40,
50:50 and 40:60 wt.%) were investigated. The exact fibre weight
percentage was monitored by weighing the dry fabrics and the
cured composite.
2.3. Characterisation
All samples were cut by laser to obtain specimens for tensile,
flexural, Charpy, DMTA and water absorption testing. The three-
point bending flexural test, was done according to ISO 14129 using
a H10KT (Tinius Olsen, USA) machine equipped with a 10 kN load
cell. The cross head speed was 5 mm/min, and the distance
between the holders was 64 mm. A minimum of five specimens
was tested for each combination of fibre alignment type and load.
Standard deviation and mean values were calculated for each
material.
For tensile test, 150 mm long dog bone shaped specimens were
tested on the same testing machine using a 10 kN load cell and a
mechanical extensometer. At least five specimens were tested for
each batch and their average values reported.
Charpy impact tests were performed using QC-639D mechani-
cal impact tester (Cometech testing machines, Taichung Hsien, Tai-
wan), according to ISO 179 standard. Using a pendulum capacity of
5 J, the un-notched specimens were placed for edgewise impact. A
minimum of at least 10 specimens was tested in order to avoid
large standard deviations.
The DMTA was done on a TA Instruments Q800 (Waters LLC,
New Castle, USA) and in the dual cantilever bending mode. The
specimen dimensions were: length 35 mm, width 8 mm and thick-
ness 3–3.5 mm. The temperature ramp was from 20 to 150 °C, a
heating rate of 3 °C/min, amplitude of 15 lm and frequency of 1 Hz
was used.
Thermogravimetric analysis was done using TA Instruments
Q500 (Waters LLC, New Castle, USA) on the composites with all
178 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184

Table 1
Flax fabric specifications.

Fibre type Composition Warp (threads/cm) Yarn number (tex) Weft (picks/cm) Yarn number (tex) Surface weight (g/m2) Weave type
Flax/basalt 52% flax/48% basalt 16.8/1.67 42/380 16.8/1.69 42/380 285 Dobby
Flax 100% flax 8 263 8 263 430 Twill 2/2

Fig. 2. Flax fabric reinforcements used in the composites.

fibre load types. A sample of about 20 mg was heated from 30 °C to

650 °C at a heating rate of 10 °C/min in a nitrogen purge stream.
The temperature for 10 wt.% and 50 wt.% loss of the composites
were detected.
Scanning electron microscopy of the laminate cross-sections
was done using AIS2100 (Seron Technology, Korea) at 20 kV accel-
erated voltage after the specimens were sputtered with a layer of
gold.
The ageing test was performed under humid conditions for all
composite types. The 150 mm long dog bone shaped specimens
were placed in a climate chamber (HPP 108/749, supplied by Mem-
mert GmbH, Germany) at 50 °C and 85% relative humidity for
1000 h. The aged specimens were then tensile tested after 24 h
reconditioning at room temperature to determine the effect of Fig. 3a. Flexural modulus comparison of the composites.
humidity on the mechanical properties.
For the moisture absorption test, the specimen weight was
measured before placing in the climate chamber and after keeping
in the chamber for 1, 7 and 40 days. Moisture absorption was
reported as the percentage of weight increase and was calculated
according to Eq. (1), where Wf is the weight of sample after the
moisture absorption and Wi is the weight of the dry sample.
Wf  Wi
Percentage of moisture absorption ¼
100 ð1Þ
Wi

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Flexural properties

Fig. 3 shows the flexural modulus, strength and strain at maxi-

mum for the composites with various fibre weight content. The Fig. 3b. Flexural strength comparison of the composites.

results show that the flax/basalt fabric composites have better flex-
ural properties than the plain flax fabric composites, which is
attributed to basalt fibre hybridisation in the flax/basalt fabric. In
Figs. 3a and 3b, the flax/basalt composite showed an increase in
the flexural modulus and strength with increased fibre load up to
60 wt.%. Therefore, in the flax/basalt composite, the fibre load
could be up to 60 wt.%. In the case of the flax composite, there
was a decrease in the flexural modulus and strength with increase
in fibre loading, compared to the flax/basalt composite. With the
high flexural strength and modulus for the flax composite with
40 wt.% and the reduction in the flexural properties of both the
50 wt.% and 60 wt.%, it could be concluded that 40 wt.% is the
higher limit for fibre load for flax fabric composite when consider-
ing the flexural properties. Fig. 3c shows that the flexural strain at
maximum for the flax/basalt composite increases with increased
fibre load up to 50 wt.%, but decreases when fibre load increased
to 60 wt.%. This was not the case with the flax composite, which
had decreased values with increased fibre load up to 50 wt.% but
increased with increased fibre load up to 60 wt.%.
 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184 179

Fig. 3c. Flexural strain at maximum comparison of the composites.

Fig. 4a. Tensile modulus comparison of the composites.

The flexural properties of composites prepared from various
man-made cellulosic fibres and plant oil-based matrices have pre-
viously been studied. Liu et al. [4] prepared composites from the
mixture of epoxidised soybean oil and epoxy resin, using non-
woven flax fibre as reinforcement, and compression moulding as
the method was used for making the composites. Fibre load
between 5 and 17 wt.% was used, and the obtained flexural modu-
lus and strength ranged between 0.66–0.94 GPa and 125–129 MPa,
respectively. O’Donnell et al. [26] used acrylated epoxidised soy-
bean oil with flax fibre mat as one of the natural fibres that were
evaluated. In this case, the composites were made by vacuum-
assisted resin transfer moulding process, and the flexural modulus
and strength of 1.2 GPa and 27 MPa, respectively, for a 30 wt.%
fibre load was obtained. Åkesson et al. [14,16] prepared two differ-
ent flax fibre composites from randomly oriented non-woven flax
mat and air laid flax mat, using a acrylated modified soybean oil
resin and a lactic acid based resin as matrix. The obtained flexural
modulus and strength at a 70 wt.% fibre load for the air laid flax
mat was 6.9 GPa, 98 MPa and for the non-woven flax mat was
7.5 GPa, 96 MPa, respectively, which are comparable to our
PMLA-flax composites, which had flexural modulus of about
9.9 GPa and flexural strength of about 86.2 MPa (at 40 wt.% fibre Fig. 4b. Tensile strength at break comparison of the composites.

load), respectively. Composites from the similar type flax/basalt,

flax fabric and acrylated epoxidised soybean oil resin have previ-
ously been studied [27]. In this case, the fabrics were pretreated
with sodium hydroxide solution, and the results show roughly
similar mechanical properties with a flexural strength and modu-
lus of flax/basalt composite of about 146 MPa and 14 GPa, respec-
tively, while for the flax, it was about 100 MPa and 7 GPa,
respectively.

3.2. Tensile properties

Fig. 4 shows tensile modulus, tensile strength at break and

maximum elongation at break for the composites types. According
to the results, the flax/basalt fabric composites have better tensile
properties than the neat flax fabric composites, which is in agree-
ment with the results from the flexural test. According to Liu et al.
[22], Liu et al. [23] and Kracalik et al. [25], basalt fibre has at least
16% higher modulus and equivalent tensile strength, compared to
E-glass fibre.
In Figs. 4a and 4b, the composite (i.e. flax/basalt and flax) shows
the same trend of tensile modulus and strength as for the flexural
properties with fibre load increase. The flax/basalt composite
showed an increase in the tensile modulus and strength with
increased fibre load, up to 60 wt.%. The flax/basalt composite could,
therefore, have up to 60 wt.% fibre load. In the case of the flax com-
posite, there was a decrease in the tensile modulus and strength
Fig. 4c. Tensile maximum elongation comparison of the composites.
with increase in fibre load. With the reduction in the tensile prop-
erties, it could be concluded that 40 wt.% is the higher limit for
fibre load for flax fabric composite. The results from Fig. 4c indicate
that maximum elongation for both composites show an increase in
maximum elongation with increase in fibre load.
The tensile properties have previously been determined for dif-
ferently prepared composites from flax fibres and various matrices.
For example, a composite was prepared from non-woven flax-
polypropylene reinforcement with 30 wt.% fibre load, and a tensile
strength of about 65 MPa was obtained [10]. A flax fibre–eco-
friendly epoxy resin composite was prepared using vacuum
180 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184

assisted resin transfer moulding, and a tensile strength of about the 50 wt.% fibre load. Composites from pretreated flax/basalt
80 MPa was obtained [7]. A flax fibre-acrylate modified epoxidised and neat flax fabric and acrylated epoxidised soybean oil resin have
soybean oil resin with 70 wt.% fibre load gave a tensile strength of been studied previously, as mentioned above [27]. The Charpy
about 78 MPa [14]. Åkesson et al. [16] prepared flax fibre and lactic impact strength of the flax/basalt composite was about 65 kJ/m2
acid resin composites with 70 wt.% fibre load. The obtained tensile and was about 35 kJ/m2 for the flax composite. This shows that
strength of about 62 MPa is considerably lower than for our pre- better mechanical properties can be achieved with fibre
sent PMLA-flax/basalt composite, which had about 90.7 MPa at pretreatment.
60 wt.% fibre load. Composites from a pretreated flax/basalt, flax
fabric and acrylated epoxidised soybean oil resin have previously
been studied, as mentioned in the previous paragraph on flexural 3.4. Dynamic mechanical thermal testing
testing [27]. The tensile strength and modulus of the flax/basalt
composite were about 150 MPa and 14 GPa, respectively, while Fig. 6 shows the storage modulus. The value for the neat PMLA
for the flax composite, it was about 60 MPa and 7 GPa, respectively. resin is included for comparison [19]. There is considerable
This shows that better mechanical properties can be achieved with improvement in the stiffness of the flax/basalt composites, com-
fibre pretreatment. pared to the neat resin. For the flax composite, only a slight
improvement was detected, irrespective of the fibre load. The stor-
age modulus decreased with the increase in temperature for all
3.3. Charpy impact resistance samples, as expected, due to increased polymer mobility. The
results of the storage modulus are also consistent with the results
Fig. 5 shows absorbed energy for un-notched Charpy impact of the mechanical properties, that is, the composite from flax/
tested composites. It is evident that the flax/basalt fabric compos- basalt has better stiffness than the flax composite (see Table 2).
ites have a relatively higher Charpy impact strength than the plain The strong increase in the storage modulus at 60 wt.% fibre load
flax fabric composites, which is in agreement with the results from for the flax/basalt composite can be interpreted as a result of good
both the flexural and tensile test. This could be due to the weave adhesion between the fibre and the matrix, which is obviously not
pattern of the flax/basalt fabric and also due to the basalt fibre in the case at 40 wt.% and 50 wt.% fibre loading. In the case of the flax
the fabric, which will impact better mechanical properties in the composite, the 60 wt.% fibre load has the highest storage modulus,
flax/basalt composite. Fig. 5 shows an increase in Charpy impact
strength of the flax/basalt composite from 40 wt.% to 50 wt.%, but
a decrease when fibre content was increased to 60 wt.%. Based
on the standard deviation, no significant difference could be seen
for all fibre loads. For the flax composite, there was a decrease in
Charpy impact strength from 40 wt.% to 50 wt.% but a slight
increase when fibre content was increased to 60 wt.%. Based on
the standard deviation, the difference can be said to be
insignificant.
The obtained results can be compared to other reports. A com-
posite prepared from non-woven flax and polypropylene with
30 wt.% fibre load gave a Charpy impact strength of about 55 kJ/
m2 [10], which is comparable to our results. Bertomeu et al. [7]
prepared a flax fibre–eco-friendly epoxy resin using vacuum
assisted resin transfer moulding process, and it gave a Charpy
impact strength of about 22.5 kJ/m2, which is lower than for our
results. Also, Åkesson et al. [14] prepared flax fibre-acrylate modi-
fied epoxidised soybean oil resin with 70 wt.% fibre load, which
gave Charpy impact strength of about 19.7 kJ/m2. Adekunle et al. Fig. 6a. Storage modulus of neat resin and flax/basalt composite at different fibre
used a non-woven and woven air laid flax fibre mat with three dif- load.
ferent resins from soybean oil, and Charpy impact strengths of
52 kJ/m2 for the non-woven and 50 kJ/m2 for the woven were
achieved [15]. A composite prepared from flax fibre and a lactic
acid resin with 70 wt.% fibre load [16] had a Charpy impact
strength of about 23 kJ/m2, which is considerably lower than for
our PMLA-flax/basalt composite, which had about 54 kJ/m2 for

Fig. 5. Impact strength comparison of the composites. Fig. 6b. Storage modulus of neat resin and flax composite at different fibre load.
 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184 181

Fig. 6c. Peak of tan delta comparison of the composites.

but considering the standard deviation, no significant difference is Fig. 7a. TGA curve of flax/basalt composite with different fibre load.
seen between fibre loads.
Fig. 6c shows that peak of tan delta increases by increasing fibre
content up to 50 wt.% for both composite types, but slightly
decreases when the fibre load was increased to 60 wt.%.

3.5. Thermogravimetric analysis

Fig. 7 and Table 2 show the thermogravimetric stabilities for the

composite. From the results, it is evident that the flax/basalt com-
posite has better thermal stability than the flax composite. For the
flax/basalt composite, the 40 wt.%, 50 wt.% and 60 wt.% fibre load
lost about 25 wt.%, 30 wt.% and 32 wt.%, respectively, of their sam-
ple weight at their maximum degradation point. In the case of flax
composite, there was just a slight difference in the loss of weight
from the samples, irrespective of the fibre load because the
40 wt.%, 50 wt.% and 60 wt.% lost about 46 wt.%, 41 wt.% and
45 wt.% of their sample weight at maximum degradation point.
The degradation temperature of flax composite was lower than
that of flax/basalt hybrid composite due to higher amount of ligno-
Fig. 7b. TGA curve of flax composite with different fibre load.
cellulosic content in flax fibre composite.

3.6. Surface morphological characteristics
The SEM micrographs of the fracture surfaces of the composites
with 40 respective 60 wt.% fibre loadings were also investigated
and are shown in Fig. 8. The individual circular basalt fibre fila-
ments can clearly be seen in the micrographs. A sharp brittle fail-
ure is seen, and the filaments are fairly well embedded in the
matrix. The individual flax fibres in the flax yarn are seen as more
irregularly shaped structures in the micrographs, with a visible
microstructure inside the fibre. The flax fibres have a more ductile
fracture, and more evident fibre pull-outs can be detected on the
micrograph, especially for the flax composite with 60 wt.% fibre
loading. The effect of increased fibre loading can be viewed as poor
fibre impregnation for both composite types. The individual flax
fibres are well impregnated at 40 wt.% fibre loading, but at 60 wt.
% some individual fibres are apparently not well impregnated.
However, in the flax/basalt composite, the interfacial bonding
between fibre and matrix is evidently better, as seen by the
mechanical testing results.
3.7. Ageing behaviour
Fig. 9 presents the tensile properties of the composites for all
fibre loadings before and after ageing. The tensile properties
decreased dramatically after ageing, which was expected.

Table 2
Thermal characterization results for the flax and flax/basalt composites.

Composite Fibre load DMA TGA

(%)
Storage modulus at 25 °C Peak of tan delta Degradation temperature at 10 wt.% Maximum Second derivative peak
(MPa) (°C) loss (°C) degradation (°C) (°C)
Flax/ 40 4288 (±80) 80 (±2) 305.5 369.8 450.3
basalt 50 4828 (±681) 83 (±4) 281.5 368.3 448.8
60 6259 (±330) 92 (±6) 274.2 371.4 451.1
Flax 40 3643 (±92) 87 (±2) 224.5 373.8 450.3
50 3618 (±331) 88 (±2) 229.1 373 456.7
60 3722 (±23) 84 (±6) 244.5 372.2 448.8

The standard deviation is given in the brackets.

182 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184
Fig. 8a. SEM micrographs of the cross-sections for 40 wt.% flax/basalt composite.
Fig. 8b. SEM micrographs of the cross-sections for 60 wt.% flax/basalt composite.
Fig. 8c. SEM micrographs of the cross-sections for 40 wt.% flax composite.
However, despite the decrease in the tensile modulus and strength
of the flax/basalt composite due to ageing, its tensile properties
were still better than for the flax composite before ageing for all
fibre loadings. Panthapulakkal and Sain [28] also confirm that
hybrid composites give higher percentage retention in tensile
modulus than the natural fibre. This decrease in mechanical prop-
erties could be due to the weak fibre–matrix interface or the weak
cellulose structure of the natural fibre [29].
Fig. 8d. SEM micrographs of the cross-sections for 60 wt.% flax composite.
Fig. 9a. Tensile modulus of flax/basalt and flax composite before and after ageing in
climate chamber.
Fig. 9b. Tensile strength at break of flax/basalt and flax composite before and after
ageing in climate chamber.
3.8. Water absorption behaviour and its effects on the properties
Fig. 10 shows the increasing water absorption with increasing
number of days for the composites. The water absorption in the
flax/basalt composite increased rapidly by 5.3%, 6.2% and 6.3% for
fibre load of 40 wt.%, 50 wt.% and 60 wt.%, respectively, by day 2;
 F.O. Bakare et al. / Composites: Part A 83 (2016) 176–184
Fig. 10. Water absorption of flax/basalt and flax composite with different fibre load.
however, for the flax composite, a higher percentage of water
absorption of 7.4%, 7.5% and 7.9% for fibre load of 40 wt.%, 50 wt.
% and 60 wt.%, respectively, was observed. Between day 2 and
day 7, an increase of about 1% or less was observed for the flax/
basalt composite while an increase of about 3% was observed for
the flax composites. By day 40, an increase of water absorption
in the range of 1.2–1.5% was observed for both the flax/basalt com-
posites and the flax composite. After drying of the composites,
there was a rapid decrease in the water uptake for both compos-
ites, up to about 2% for the flax/basalt composite and about
3% for the flax composites, compared to their initial weight
before it was placed in the climate chamber. This could indicate
that some of the resin was extracted during the testing. The flax/
basalt composite had a lower water uptake than the flax compos-
ite, which could be due to the basalt yarn present in the fabric. This
was also confirmed by Adekunle et al. [27], where the treated flax/
basalt composite had the lowest water uptake than the other com-
posites prepared. Dhakal et al.’s [30] results on the water absorp-
tion behaviour of flax/carbon fibre hybrid composite, compared
with flax fibre composite, also confirm our results that hybrid
flax/basalt fibre composites have a lower water absorption than
pure flax fibre composites. The specimens were immersed in de-
ionised water bath at 25 °C at varying number of hours from
24 h to 648 h. The results show that the hybrid flax/carbon com-
posite has lower percentage absorption of water, compared to
the pure flax composite. Dhakal et al. [31] also confirm that the
higher the fibre volume fraction, the higher the water absorption
content of the composite.
4. Conclusions
Composites have been made from a novel thermosetting resin
prepared from lactic acid, allyl alcohol and pentaerythritol (PMLA
resin) and two types of woven flax fibre reinforcements, i.e. flax/
basalt fabric and pure flax fabric. The resin was impregnated by
hand lay-up into the woven flax fibres and compression moulded
at elevated temperature to produce thermoset composites with
different fibre loads (40 wt.%, 50 wt.% and 60 wt.%). The results
show that the flax/basalt composite has better mechanical and
thermal properties than the pure flax composite, and it can be used
with the PMLA resin up to 60 wt.% fibre load, while the pure flax
composite can have up to 40 wt.% fibre load. This could be attribu-
ted to the basalt fibre present in the flax/basalt composite and also
the weave architecture of the fabric, which is the dobby weave for
the flax/basalt fabric and twill 2/2 weave for the pure flax fabric.
183
The composites showed relatively good flexural, tensile and
impact strengths. The flexural modulus ranged between 9 and
14 GPa for flax/basalt composites and between 6 and 10 GPa for
pure flax composites. The tensile modulus ranged between 10
and 12 GPa for flax/basalt composites and between 3 and 5 GPa
for pure flax composites. The impact strength ranged between 46
and 54 kJ/m2 for flax/basalt composites and between 31 and
33 kJ/m2 for pure flax composites.
These results show that the mechanical properties of compos-
ites cannot entirely compete with typical glass fibre reinforced
unsaturated polyester composites. Nonetheless, considering the
high renewable ratio and relatively low price for the flax fibres
and the bio-based resin used, these composites show promising
properties for making products with a high renewable content.
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