Development of Composites Using Bamboo Waste and Polymers for Industrial Application

Abstract

The demand for polymer matrix composite in numerous industries is becoming popular day by day due to its significant improvement in mechanical and physical properties over conventional materials. This study aims to develop an analysis of the polymer matrix composite. Polymer matrix composites are fabricated by combining epoxy resin (matrix) and bamboo dust (reinforcement) particles with each other. To prepare the composite, reinforcement and the matrix material are mixed in three weight percentages (wt%), i.e., 40–60%, 50–50%, and 60–40%, respectively. Moreover, to investigate material property, composite samples have fabricated by using individual three different micro-sized bamboo particles, i.e., 60, 110, and 220 microns. Water absorption capacity and the swelling test have checked to determine the physical property of the fabricated samples. Microstructural evaluation of the specimen is done by using an optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Also, EDS has been performed to observe the distribution characteristics of the bamboo particulates into the epoxy resin as well as the percentage of carbon and oxygen into the fabricated composites has been evaluated. Tensile tests and hardness have been done to examine mechanical performance. The maximum tensile strength is obtained 17.86 MPa, and the maximum hardness is 27.2HV0.05. It is concluded that the mechanical property has shown an increasing trend with decreasing the size of bamboo particles when the mixing ratio is kept constant. Also, the mechanical performance increased with increasing the percentage of epoxy resin on the fabricated composites when bamboo particle size is constant.