Investigation of Tribo-Mechanical Properties of Polyamide 6 Nano-Biocomposite: Novel Approach Prediction of Fiber Orientation with OMMT.

Hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer nano-biocomposites were prepared from flax fiber, aloe vera fiber, polyamide 6 (PA6), and organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) through the hot-pressing method. The effect of TAF/TFF/OMMT with PA6 content on mechanical, thermal, water absorption, and biodegradability properties was investigated. The coefficient of friction of neat-PA6 (Testing conditions: Load of 10 to 30 N, sliding distance of 1000 m, sliding velocity of 1 to 3 m/s) was measured. The improvement in mechanical, water resistance and thermal properties are achieved in PA6/10%(TFF/TAF)/1%OMMT nano-biocomposite compared to neat-PA6. The desired TFF/TAF/OMMT combination shows improvement of strength of material due to filling pores with fine fibers content, and Si-content in OMMT clay leads to increased strength. Microstructural morphology reveals that crack propagation minimizes with an increase in OMMT content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]