Abstract
Due to the environmental awareness, researchers are focusing to replace the synthetic with natural fibers. However, the use of natural fibers has certain limitations like limited to geographical location, hydrophobicity, and compatibility. To overcome these, the current research presents a new novel resource of natural fiber from Morinda citrifolia as a cleaner material and bridges the gap between the materials and sustainability. The fibers were subjected to chemical treatments like NaOH, silane, and nitric acid to improve its compatibility. Four different composites were developed, respectively using bio-epoxy resin to promote the bio-based concept. The physical, mechanical, thermal, viscoelastic, and morphological properties of the fibers and composites were analyzed and studied according to ASTM. The mechanical results revealed that the chemical treatments improved the tensile and flexural strength by 14.372% and 46.716%, respectively. Surface roughness plots showed improved roughness for NaOH and Nitric acid-treated fibers. The thermal stability of the silane and NaOH treated fibers was improved by 6.785% and 5.583% respectively. Lifetime of the best performed composite under dynamic loading is analyzed and studied through fatigue test. Finally, from the results, it was found that Morinda citrifolia fiber is a novel potential resource of sustainable raw material for reinforcement in polymer composites and can be used to develop lightweight structural applications.
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