LAUSR

Polymer composites using high-performance natural fibers have several practical uses in industry. The effect of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) coating on sugar palm fiber (SPF) is investigated in this study. The fiber surface is modified using the osmosis technique with different process parameters such as concentrations of MoS2, temperature, and time. The multi-output optimization (MOO) method is used to study the influence of the coating parameter on tensile strength and coating density. The chemical, morphological and thermal stability of the sample synthesized by optimum parameters are analyzed and compared with raw-sugar palm fiber (R-SPF). The processing time is the parameter that strongly influences the tensile strength and coating concentration. The Field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) observations indicate the successfulness of MoS2 coating over the raw palm fiber surface. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the crystallinity index (CI) of the coated fiber has increased significantly compared to R-SPF. The MoS2 physisorption on the R-SPF surface is verified by Fourier’s transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) results reveal that the thermal stability of modified-sugar palm fiber (M-SPF) increased significantly relative to the R-SPF. The hydrophobicity of the R-SPF was also significantly improved as a result of the coating. This method shows an excellent methodology for developing high-potential natural fiber to manufacture high-performance natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites.