Effect of a Novel Chemical Treatment on Nanocellulose Fibers for Enhancement of Mechanical, Electrochemical and Tribological Characteristics of Epoxy Bio-nanocomposites

Abstract

In the present study, a novel chemical treatment has been introduced for the extraction of nano-cellulose fibers (NCF) from waste sugarcane bagasse and applied as a reinforcement material to enhance the mechanical, corrosion and tribological properties of epoxy-based bio-nanocomposites. The experimental design was selected as per central composite design (response surface methodology) to optimize the effect of fiber concentration (2.93 to 17.07 wt.%) and sonication time (47.57 to 132.43 min). From the analysis of variance (ANOVA) results, it was found that the fiber concentration and sonication played a significant role in the mechanical properties. In order to simultaneously maximize the mechanical properties such as tensile, compression, flexural, impact strength and Rockwell hardness, the optimal values of nanocellulose fiber and sonication time was found to be 10 wt.% and 120 min respectively. From the normal distribution plot, it is found that there is a good agreement between experimental results and developed CCD model. The chemically treated nanocellulose fiber reinforcement in epoxy polymer improved the mechanical, corrosion and wear resistance properties. Total wear rate of chemically treated fibers reinforced epoxy nanocomposites reduced up to 21.67 % when compared with the neat epoxy polymer. The scanning electron microscope analysis on the sugarcane nanocellulose fiber reinforced epoxy nanocomposites revealed good dispersion of nanocellulose in the polymer matrix, which cause for the improved mechanical, corrosion and wear resistance characteristics.