RT Journal Article ID 772324481987f419 A1 Kalia, Susheel A1 Verma, Samriti T1 MORPHOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL STUDIES OF POLYHYDROXYBUTYRATE COMPOSITES REINFORCED WITH FLAX-g-POLY(MA), FLAX-g-POLY(MA-co-AAc), and FLAX-g-POLY(MA-co-VA) JF Composites: Mechanics, Computations, Applications: An International Journal JO CMCA YR 2012 FD 2012-09-18 VO 3 IS 3 SP 263 OP 274 K1 flax K1 graft copolymerization K1 microwave K1 methyl acrylate K1 composites K1 morphology AB The present paper deals with the microwave radiation-assisted graft copolymerization of methyl acrylate and its binary monomer mixture with acrylic acid and vinyl acetate onto flax fibers in the presence of Fenton's reagent as redox initiator. Maximum grafting has been observed at 3.31 × 10−3 mol/liter of methyl acrylate, 1:2 molar ratio of FAS−H2O2, (Fenton's reagent) 40 min reaction time, and 8.0 pH of reaction medium. In the case of binary vinyl monomer mixture of MA + AAc and MA + VA, maximum grafting has been observed at 2.91 × 10−3 mol/liter of AAc and 2.16 × 10−3 mol/liter of VA, respectively. In order to know the evidence of grafting, morphology, thermal stability and crystallinity, synthesized flax graft copolymers were characterized with FTIR, SEM, TGA, and XRD techniques. Polyhydroxybutyrate composites were manufactured using flax graft copolymers as reinforcing material and further subjected to morphological and mechanical studies. It has been found that grafting of flax fibers with vinyl monomers results in enhanced mechanical properties of polyhydroxybutyrate composites due to better binding between the fibers and matrix. PB Begell House LK https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/36ff4a142dec9609,45848c011e224fba,772324481987f419.html