Characterization of prickly pear short fiber and red onion peel biocarbon nanosheets toughened epoxy composites

Abstract

AbstractIn this research, the role of prickly pear short fiber and red onion peel wrinkled biocarbon nanosheets toughened epoxy resin composite was investigated. The main aim of this research was to find the effectiveness of adding biocarbon along with prickly pear fiber in the load‐bearing, thermal and electrical conductivity behavior of the epoxy resin composite. The biocarbon nanosheets were prepared for this present investigation from red onion peel waste using the pyrolysis process. The composites were characterized by American society of testing and materials (ASTM) standards and compared with previous results. The highest tensile strength and flexural strength were observed for 3 vol.% of biocarbon nanosheets up to 60% and 40% respectively than pure epoxy. Izod impact toughness and hardness values also increased with the inclusion of reinforcements by 5 vol.% around 93% and 90% correspondingly. Similarly, relative permittivity and dielectric loss enhanced about to 6.4 and 0.74 for 5 vol.% of biocarbon nanosheets. The thermal conductivity also improved with the addition of biocarbon nanosheets and maximum values up to 0.42 W/mK. This enhanced dielectric, mechanical, and thermally active composites might be employed as a microwave shielding material in electronic devices, automotive, and industrial applications for communications equipment that require shielding material with good mechanical properties.