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Hand lay-up was used to create banana and nylon Fibre-reinforced vinyl ester (VE) composites with random orientation of the short fibre ratio (banana:nylon = 1:1). To make it environmentally conscious, natural fibre (banana) was added in synthetic fibre (nylon). After fabrication, different mechanical testing was conducted. Tensile strength improves by 47% at 10 wt. % fibre loading and 13% at 20 wt.% fibre loading. Flexural strength improved by up to 213% at 15 wt. % fibre loading. At 20 wt. % fibre loading, the mean hardness number reaches its maximum. The mean impact energy is highest at 15 wt. % fibre loading. Furthermore, the highest water absorption is 2.3% with a fibre loading of 20 wt.%. After 15 wt.% fibre loading, which is suggested for optimal performance, the manufactured composites exhibit a declining trend in tensile, flexural, and impact capabilities. As a result, scanning electron micrographs were collected at 20 wt.% fibre loading to investigate the type of fibre-matrix bonding, voids, fibre agglomeration, and fibre pullouts phenomena. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy was also explored to show a decline in hemicelluloses content. As-fabricated composites have several technological uses, including leisure and sports products, maritime sectors, and airplanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this research is to observe the effect of alkalisation of rattan, bamboo fibre, and eggshell particles addition in the fabrication of hybrid polyester laminated composite. A 5% NaOH treatment of fibres was conducted, and 5% eggshell particles was added to the composite. The FTIR analysis was done to reveal the presence of nanol, and thermal stabilities were evaluated by TGA, DTG and DTA. Furthermore, water absorption and biodegradability of the composite were also investigated. Mechanical properties were tested with compatible ASTM standards. The 5% NaOH treated 30 wt.% fibre- loading enhanced the tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and hardness by 9%, 2%, 7%, and 4%, respectively compared to the raw composites. On the other hand, the addition of 5% eggshell particles decreased the tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and hardness of the raw 30 wt% fibre-reinforced composite by 5%, 4%, 3%, and 2%, respectively In addition, the raw 30 wt% fibre-reinforced composite has the highest biodegradability, and water absorption percentage than the alkali-treated and eggshell added fibre-reinforced composite. The raw 30 wt% fibre-reinforced composite has dictated over the alkali-treated and eggshell added fibre-reinforced composite in terms of thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Natural Fibers is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this present research, palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) and aramid fiber reinforced epoxy composite is fabricated by hand lay-up technique with equal fiber ratio (Palm:Aramid = 1:1) and fiber loading constituting of 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt.% fiber, where palm acted as natural fiber and aramid acted as synthetic fiber. The use of bio fibers as reinforcement in polymer matrix composites is thought to have better prospects in terms of showing high earmarked properties such as light in weight, lowest density, less costly, environmental conciliation, have sustained aspect for effective transfer of stress, etc. Mainly, the effect of fibre loading on mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, impact, hardness) and physical property (water absorption) is assessed in this research work. Experiments are directed according to ASTM standards for evaluating mechanical and physical properties. Surface morphological analysis is conducted through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) for observing the fiber–matrix bonding on the tensile fracture surface. After evaluation, it is found that flexural, impact, hardness properties along with water absorption percentage have shown incremental behaviour with the enhancement of fiber loading. On the other hand, tensile properties have shown dissimilar performance with the enhancement of fiber loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Natural Fibers is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Manufacturing hybrid composites using polyethylene (PE) matrix is the main focus of this present research. Physico-mechanical testing of betel nut and glass fiber-reinforced hybrid composites was subsequently performed. Random orientation and short fiber-reinforced composite was manufactured using a hot press machine for 80% PE-20% fiber at a ratio of betel nut and glass fiber 1:3, found from previous research. Therefore, the effect of nanofiller on that ratio was mainly explored in this research. As a result, more samples were fabricated by the addition of titanium oxide and zeolite nanopowder as a nanofiller for this fiber ratio of betel nut and glass 1:3 by keeping the fiber short with random orientation. The fabricated composites were characterized based on mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis (FTIR). FTIR analysis ensured the presence of nanopowder and –OH group in the respective composites. Therefore, the addition of titanium oxide nanopowder enhanced all mechanical properties of the composites, except % elongation at break. SEM analysis revealed better interfacial bonding and uniform dispersion of nanofiller in the PE matrix. Composites containing betel nut and glass at a ratio of 1:3 with titanium oxide nanopowder would provide the optimum set of mechanical properties among all fabricated hybrid composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an investigation done on the mechanical properties of betel nut-glass fibre reinforced hybrid polyethylene composites by varying the fibre loading and ratio. By using the hot press method with four levels of fibre loading (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%), different composites were manufactured. For the 20 wt% fibre-loaded composites, the fibre ratio was also varied (betel nut:glass = 1:1, 3:1 and 1:3). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) analysis and tensile, flexural and hardness tests were conducted for the characterisation of the composites. The FTIR analysis indicated the presence of hemicelluloses, lignin and moisture content in the prepared composites, which are liable to decrease tensile strength. As a result, the tensile strength decreased but Young's modulus increased with fibre loading. On the other hand, flexural strength, flexural modulus and hardness increased with fibre loading. SEM analysis revealed the morphological characteristics of the fibre-polyethylene matrix. Above all, the composite containing 20 wt% fibre at a 1:3 ratio of betel nut and glass showed the highest mechanical properties (tensile, flexural and hardness). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]