Agave Tequilana biowaste fiber-treated biocomposites: influence of SiC nanoparticles on mechanical, morphological, tribological and moisture absorption properties.

To incorporate sustainability in polymer composites, industries prefer natural fibers as reinforcement material owing to its specific mechanical properties. This study investigates the characterization of sodium hydroxide–treated Agave Tequilana Fibers (ATFs) reinforced in unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) matrix composite with nanosized Silicon Carbide (SiC) particles as filler material. The composite specimens were manufactured by compression moulding technique. The alkali-treated ATF (AATF) reinforced composite (AATFC) specimens with 40 wt.% of AATF were impregnated with different wt.% SiC nanoparticles as 1 wt.%, 2 wt.% and 3 wt.%. The effect of wt.% of SiC nanoparticles on mechanical, wear and moisture absorption characteristics of AATFC specimens were described. It was found that AATFC specimens with 2 wt.% SiC nanoparticles exhibit maximum hardness value of 87 HRRW, tensile strength of 51.61 MPa, flexural strength of 61.73 MPa, and impact strength of 8.17 J/cm². Similarly, the same composite specimen incurred a minimum wear weight loss of 0.013 g and moisture absorption characteristics with increase in weight of 0.016 g in normal water, 0.017 g in sea water, and 0.011 g in NaOH solution. On the other hand, agglomeration of SiC nanoparticles and its heterogeneous distribution in AATFC with 3 wt.% SiC nanoparticles resulted in declined properties. Also, the fractographic images of tensile failure cross-section of AATFC specimens help to estimate the interaction between UPR, AATF and SiC in the composites. The observed results favour the use of AATFC specimen in light weight structural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]