Mechanical, morphological and wear resistance of natural fiber / glass fiber-based polymer composites

• Published in: Bioresources 2024-05, Vol.19 (2), p.3271-3289
• Main Authors: Sumesh, K. R., Palanisamy, Sivasubramanian, Khan, Tabrej, Ajithram, A., Ahmed, Omar Shabbir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: epoxy resin; mechanical testing; morphological properties; natural fiber; surface treatments
• ISSN: 1930-2126; 1930-2126
• DOI: 10.15376/biores.19.2.3271-3289

Natural fibers along with glass fibers were used as the reinforcement of an epoxy matrix for the betterment of mechanical and wear applications. The combination of overall wt% up to 20 resulted in 23.8 MPa of tensile strength compared to 15.5 MPa for untreated fibers. The wt% of areca fiber (AF) (20 wt%)/glass fibers (GF) (20 wt%) with 5% alkali treatment yielded a maximum tensile strength up to 62.6% in comparison to untreated fiber at lowest percentage of 10 wt%. The increase in flexural strength with alkali treatment was observed from 20 to 50 wt% hybrid fiber incorporation. The alkali treated fibers, untreated fiber combinations achieved 33.8% and 26.8% improvement with impact properties. A decrease in the wear loss was shown with the increase in wt% of hybrid fiber incorporation from 20 to 40 wt%. The interfacial adhesion of fiber with matrix created a pressure absorbing zone that was positively influenced with applying higher loads. The frictional rate was highly increasing with increase in hybrid fiber wt% and also with higher loads applied. The SEM results for treated 20 wt% AF+20 wt% GF with hybrid fiber incorporation observed better results due to improved adhesion of fiber with matrix phase.