Dimension stability, tensile and thermomechanical properties of bamboo/oil palm fibre reinforced bio-epoxy hybrid biocomposites

Abstract

The rising liability to suffer the environment eco-friendly covers the approach to the improvement of materials with bio-natural wastes. This research experimentally aims to study bamboo/oil palm reinforced bio-epoxy hybrid composite. Bamboo (B) and oil palm (O) reinforced bio-epoxy was fabricated as a control. The fabricated biocomposites were characterised by mechanical properties (tensile tests), physical characterisations (density, water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS)), thermomechanical analysis (TMA), and morphological (scanning electron microscopy (SEM)). Among the hybrid composites, 5B5O has the highest tensile strength and modulus which is 35.66 MPa and 4.95 GPa, respectively. Based on the findings, the physical properties, WA and TS capacities (WA and TS) of B and 3B7O biocomposites were increased compared with all corresponding biocomposites while the O biocomposite exhibited lower TS and WA values compared to other samples. The hybrid 3B7O biocomposite sample was attributed to a higher void percentage (6.29%) and lower density (1.25 g/cm3) compared to other biocomposites. Generally, the SEM analysis of hybrid biocomposites confirms a valuable interaction between the filler and the matrix as further penetration for the matrix was permitted into the greatly porous structures of natural fibres. Furthermore, the SEM test of the fracture point confirmed the observations from the mechanical properties. The obtained findings confirmed that hybrid fibres improve the properties of the bio-epoxy matrix and can be utilised as sustainable and renewable biocomposites for several applications such as automotive tools, furniture and medical tools.

Keywords

• Biocomposites
• Bamboo fibres
• Tensile strength
• SEM
• Water absorption