The degree of mechanical reinforcement that can be obtained by the introduction of glass fibers in biofiber (silk fabric)-reinforced epoxy composites has been assessed experimentally. The addition of a relatively small amount of glass fabric to the silk fabric reinforced epoxy matrix enhances the mechanical properties of the resulting hybrid composites. It has also been observed that the properties increase with the increase in the weight fraction of reinforcement content to the maximum extent. The water uptakes of hybrid composites are observed to be less than that of unhybridized composites.

Granite powder is an inexpensive material that can reduce the overall cost of a composite if used as a filler in epoxy and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)-toughened epoxy matrices. Epoxy and ABS-toughened epoxy resins filled with granite powder were cast into sheets. To enhance the properties of these composites, granite powder was treated with triethoxymethyl silane coupling agent. Flexural properties, compression properties, chemical resistance, and morphology of these composites were studied. The filler used varied from 0 to 60 wt %. Composites consisting of ABS-toughened epoxy with treated granite powder were found to be superior in mechanical properties to composites with treated and untreated granite powder. Composites with 50 wt % of granite powder was found to have maximum mechanical properties in all cases. All the three composites, i.e., untreated, treated and ABS toughened composites showed good resistance toward, acids, alkalis, and solvents. Treating granite powder with silane coupling agent enhances its mechanical properties and improves the interfacial bond between granite powder and the matrix.

In this article a study on the tensile, flexural, compression, and impact strength of granite powder–epoxy composites on toughening epoxy with unsaturated polyester and unsaturated polyester with epoxy resin has been assessed. The water absorption studies revealed that an increase in the strength of the composites showed a positive toughening effect. The morphology study has also been carried out in order to study the interfacial region in the composites.

ABSTRACT:The miscibility studies of chitosan (CHI)/ hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) blend in buffer solution (0.1M acetic acid þ 0.2M sodium acetate) were carried out by viscosity, ultrasonic velocity, density, and refractive index methods at 30, 40, and 508C, respectively. Using viscosity data, the interaction parameter m and a were computed. These values revealed that the blend is miscible when the CHI content is more than 50% in the blend. The obtained results were further confirmed by ultrasonic velocity, density, and refractive index study. And also the result revealed that the change in temperature has no significant effect on the miscibility of CHI/ HPMC polymer blends.

Waste silk fabric-reinforced epoxy laminates were developed with varying content of silk fabric. The mechanical properties like tensile strength and flexural strength of the composites were determined. These properties were found to increase with silk fabric content. These composites also showed good chemical resistance to some acids, alkalies, and solvents. The interfacial bonding between the reinforcement and the matrix was examined using SEM technique.