Effect of TiC Nanoparticles Reinforcement in Coir Fiber Based Bio/Synthetic Epoxy Hybrid Composites: Mechanical and Thermal Characteristics

Abstract

The present investigation was performed to study the effect of titanium carbide (TiC) nanoparticles and coir fiber as hybrid reinforcements on the physical, mechanical characteristics, and thermal stability of Coir fiber/TiC epoxy composites. The hand layup technique was applied for the fabrication of composites by reinforcing a fixed quantity of coir fiber (0, 5, and 10 wt%) and TiC nanoparticles (0, 5, and 10 wt%) in the proportion of bio-epoxy Sr 33 (100, 95, and 90 wt%) and synthetic epoxy (100, 95, and 90 wt%) resin. The cured specimen were subjected to flexural, tensile, impact, shore hardness, and chemical resistance tests. The fracture surface of the epoxy composites was investigated from a scanning electron microscope (SEM). From the outcomes, it was found that the reinforcement of coir fiber in epoxy polymer showed better than the neat polymer in most of the considered properties. The incorporation of TiC nanoparticles in coir fiber/epoxy composites exhibited some improvement in the mechanical characteristics (tensile strength by 4.99% and flexural strength from 115.05 to 124 MPa) and thermal stability (up to 402.71 °C) of the developed composites, which have a resistance under different loading conditions.