Rendering unique properties by combining materials are stepping stones to innovate novel material with excellent properties. Although the combination technology has been used to obtain characteristic properties, recent new technologies develop materials with both lower density and higher strength, which are not attainable for single bulk materials. The light weight, easy availability, and biodegradability of natural fibers make them as one of the most acceptable materials for manufacturing various products. Most of the commodity plastics can be reinforced with wood flour which is one of the most abundantly available resources and can impart better properties to the composite materials. To support the industry while considering the product reliability and durability, the effect of more detailed processing factors is in demand. Thus, the present study focuses on clarifying the effects of particle size, morphology, diffraction pattern, particle size distribution of the wood flour on the final properties of the wood flour-based composites. Multiple factors like morphological, structural, interfacial interactions, and crystallinity index shows 1 h milled wood fluor to be the appropriate time to mill the wood flour particles. There is an optimal milling time, which make smaller wood flours without agglomerates, resulting in better property enhancement.
Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) composites with enhanced electrical and mechanical properties are fabricated using a hybrid filler. This study hereby reports the effect of introducing reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/ionic liquid (IL) hybrid filler on the properties of plasticized PVC. Hybrid nanostructures, if appropriately designed, are expected to combine the merits of the individual building nanomaterials. An imidazolium based ionic liquid, 1-benzyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetra fluro borate is used for the hybrid formation. The structural and morphological characterization of hybrid filler using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques confirms the successful formation of hybrid. Dielectric constant is found to be increased even by the addition of a small quantity of ionic liquid to RGO. The ionic moieties in the added ionic liquid in addition to the bonds in the RGO are found to be responsible for the enhancement. Elongation at break is found to be increased with addition of hybrid filler due to the plasticizing action of the ionic liquid. It is clear from the investigations that ionic liquid, 1-benzyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetra fluro borate can be used as an efficient modifier for RGO.
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