Influence of MMT Nanoclay on Impedance Spectroscopy Analysis of Naturally Woven Coconut Sheath/Polyester Hybrid Composite

In this work, the impedance spectroscopy study has been carried out for the naturally woven coconut sheath fiber rein- forced composite with the effect of adding different weight percentages of montmorillonite nanoclay and chemical activation of fiber. The dispersion mechanism of nanoclay with polyester, and the modification of the fiber surface have been studied by using X-ray dif- fractogram, transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope respectively. Infra-red spectra have also been taken to study the reactive compounds of treated fibers. The impedance spectrum shows significant improvement in A.C. conductivity, dielec- tric constant and loss tangent values by the fiber modification, using alkali and silane treatments, due to the structural topography changes at the fiber surface. The highest dielectric strength was found in alkali-treated coconut sheath/polyester composite due to increase in orientation polarization by the absorption of moisture content at fiber surface. The addition of different weight percen- tages of nanoclay with coconut sheath in all the treated conditions shows significant changes in the dielectric properties. V C 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 129: 3746-3756, 2013