Development and characterization of groundnut shell‐derived biocarbon‐reinforced polylactic acid composite filaments for FDM

Abstract

Biochar, a carbon‐rich biomass material has emerged as promising reinforcement and offers versatile applications and potential benefits in various fields, especially in fused deposition modeling (FDM). This study focuses on the development and characterization of groundnut shell‐derived biocarbon (GNSC) reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) filaments for FDM. The GNSC was synthesized through pyrolysis using a tubular furnace at temperatures 700, 800, and 900°C. Synthesized carbon was characterized using Raman spectroscopy, XRD, and SEM analysis. The results showed that the synthesized carbon particles were graphitic, spherical, and nanosized with an average diameter of 40 nm. The preferred biocarbon material, GNSC800 was selected for its high carbon content (98.25%) observed through EDX analysis. Composite filaments were produced with different GNSC800 loadings of 0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75% using solvent casting and extrusion techniques. Thermal stability was evaluated using TGA and DSC, which showed improved properties with the addition of biocarbon. The mechanical properties and electrical conductivity were enhanced with the inclusion of biocarbon. The data were also validated using ANOVA and Tukey's test. Filament with the 0.5 wt% loading showed the most favorable thermomechanical properties exhibiting a 39.8% increase in tensile strength and a 17.5% improvement in tensile modulus.