Characterization of eco‐friendly composites for automotive applications prepared by the compression molding method

Abstract

The need to comply with environmental regulations and provisions set by the government for sustainability and environmental awareness has caused the use of natural fiber‐reinforced composites in the automotive industry to increase. Furthermore, there has been a lack of extensive research on the production of eco‐friendly composites for automotive applications utilizing epoxy resin, rice husk, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 by the compression molding technique. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the influence of compression molding pressure on the properties of eco‐friendly composites for automotive applications. The specimens consisted of epoxy resin, rice husk, Al2O3, and Fe2O3, in that order by weight percentages of 50%, 20%, 15%, and 15%, respectively. Compression molding with pressures of 10, 20, and 30 MPa and a holding time of 20 min at room temperature was utilized in this study. To evaluate the properties of the obtained specimens, density, hardness, flexural, wear, TGA (thermal gravimetric analysis), and DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) tests were conducted. The research findings show that composite specimens' physical and mechanical properties decrease while the friction coefficient increases with increasing pressure during compression molding. In contrast, the pressure increase did not significantly alter the thermal characteristics of the composite specimens. The BP_10 specimen, fabricated at a molding pressure of 10 MPa, exhibited superior properties compared to other specimens. Density, hardness, flexural strength, coefficient of friction, total residue, Tmax, Tg, and Tc in specimen BP_10 was 1.881 g/cm3, 80.5 shore D, 35.84 MPa, 0.262, 58.67%, 354.87, 285.53, and 497.7°C, respectively.Highlights The demand for natural fiber‐reinforced composites is increasing because more vehicles are on the road. The properties of natural fiber‐reinforced composites are strongly influenced by the pressure applied during compression molding. Results show that compression molding pressure strongly influenced the hardness, density, flexural strength, friction coefficient, and thermal stability of natural fiber‐reinforced composites. The natural fiber‐reinforced composites developed in this research can contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).