Mechanical Properties Characterization of Water Hyacinth (“Emboch”) Plant for Use as Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite

The aim of the research work reported in this article is to fabricate water hyacinth fiber reinforced polyester composites and characterize its mechanical properties. The fiber material was extracted manually after collecting the water hyacinth plant from Lake Koka in the Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Once the extraction was done, the fiber was treated by a chemical in different sodium hydroxide concentration, used for the improvement of bond and interfacial strength of the water hyacinth fiber. The composite of water hyacinth fiber is fabricated with polyester resin, using hand lay-up methods in different fiber/matrix ratios. The mechanical properties of the specimens were then measured according to ASTM standard recommendations experimental tests such as tensile, flexural and compressive tests were conducted on the prepared composite material samples. The results show that 20% fiber content is around optimum content for best mechanical behavior and all the mechanical properties are satisfactorily improved when the water hyacinth polyester composite is chemically treated using NaOH. Therefore, using water hyacinth fibers as reinforcement in a polymer matrix, it has been proved that successful composites can be developed.