A study on the effect of alkaline treatment on the mechanical properties of cotton fabric reinforced epoxy composites is presented in this paper. One hour treatment of cotton fabric was performed using three different concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. 1% NaOH treated fabric reinforced composites exhibited maximum improvement in tensile strength. It was concluded that the said NaOH concentration improves interfacial adhesion between the cotton fabric and epoxy resin. Moreover the morphology of the fracture surface, evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), indicated that surface treatment can yield better adhesion between the fabric and matrix, demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results revealed that alkali treated (1% and 3% NaOH) fabric composites exhibit higher storage moduli and glass transition temperature (Tg) values as compared to the untreated fabric composites. However, for all the composite specimens, the storage modulus decreased with increasing temperature (25-100 °C). Tg values of 50.9, 56.7, 52.8 and 37.7 °C were recorded for the untreated and (1%, 3% and 5%) treated composites, respectively. The tan δ values decreased for all the composites with increasing temperature, indicating enhanced interactions between the polymer matrix and fabric reinforcement.
Mechanical, thermal, and water absorption properties of the composites have been studied as a function of sawdust content, using different weight percentage. The characteristics properties of the composites were studied using differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to understand the interfacial bonding. The obtained results showed that the 15 wt% composites exhibited the highest tensile strength (7.5 MPa) and flexural strength (8.9 MPa) compared with the 5 wt%, 30 wt%, 40 wt%, and 50 wt% composites. A good interfacial combination was formed between 15 wt% of sawdust and epoxy resin. In terms of the tensile and flexural strength, the differential scanning calorimetry analysis confirmed that matrix modification could improve the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the composites compared to neat resin. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectrum showed the presence of functional groups pertaining to composites. The absorption data of the composite showed that the water uptake increased as the amount of sawdust in the composite increased. The 5 wt%, 15 wt%, 30 wt%, and 40 wt% sawdust composites also displayed less water absorption behavior (1.534%, 1.871%, 2.492%, and 4.127%, respectively) compared to the 50 wt% composite.
In the present study, three different walnut husk particles were applied as reinforced material used for manufacturing epoxy-based composites, and the influence of pumice powder content (20wt%) on the water absorption, and elongation at break properties of composites was investigated. Composites were prepared by hand lay-up method. Water absorption of the composites decreased with adding filler content. Finally, was concluded that pumice powder-filled is effective for improving the performance of walnut husk/epoxy composites. This behavior was found to relate to the efficient modification of the hydrophilic characteristics of walnut husk particles. However, The elongation at the break of composites significantly decreased with adding of the pumice powder.
The research article focused on the effect of corn shell reinforced with epoxy composites. The randomly oriented corn shell reinforced/epoxy composites were prepared by hand lay-up technique with 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% pomice powder weight. Tensile, flexural, and water absorption tests were used to determine the composite's mechanical properties, The obtained results revealed that 20 wt% and 15 wt% pumice powdercould produce corn shell -reinforced composite with the highest tensile strength, flexural strength, and interfacial adhesion among all the prepared composites. The added of the pumice powder into the corn shell /epoxy composites enhanced their mechanical, and water absorption. The tensile and flexural strengths of the corn shell/pumice powde -epoxy composites (20wt% and 15wt%) were 11.745 and 11.250 MPa, respectively. In additon, The 25 wt.%, composite also displayed less water absorption behavior compared to the other composite.
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