Utilization of wrightia tinctoria nano seed fibers as a reinforcement in the preparation of epoxy-based composites

Abstract

Natural seed fiber reinforced composite materials are replacing many conventional ones because of their excellent properties, less weight, easy availability, etc. Composite materials are used in many areas because of their superior features. Mechanical property is one of the vital parameters for choosing the material. The current investigation has revealed an importance of recently well-known Wrightia tinctoria nano seed fibers (WTNSFs), which are extracted physically. Wrightia tinctoria nano seed fiber reinforced composite was prepared with the epoxy resin by hand layup method. Epoxy resin is easy to handle and available at low cost. Mechanical tests are conducted reinforced composites of plain epoxy and WTNSFs to obtain strength properties like tensile, flexural, impact. Water absorption tests also performed on composites. Here, the developed composites are easy to handle, offered economically, and used primarily in marine applications due to less water absorption and good wax content. A comprehensive description of different tests and the properties of WTNSFs are studied and compared with the other existing natural fibers. This work showed that 35% combination of WTNSFs reinforced epoxy matrix offers enhanced mechanical properties with minimum water absorption compared with plain epoxy composites.