Mechanical and morphological properties of bamboo mesoparticle/nylon 6 composites

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanical properties of bamboo mesoparticle/nylon 6 composites. The challenge in this paper is that there has been very limited research done on the effect of fibre loading on the mechanical properties of natural bamboo mesoparticles as reinforcement for nylon 6 in order to reduce the cost of production while maintaining the high composite mechanical properties. The average size of the bamboo mesoparticles used was 0.25 μm. The mesoparticle/nylon 6 composites were prepared by mixing bamboo mesoparticles and nylon 6 using a laboratory blender mixer machine, followed by preparation of samples using an injection moulding machine. The fibre loadings were 9 wt.%, 13 wt.%, and 18 wt.%. The mechanical properties of the composites examined were tensile, flexural, and impact properties, while tensile fracture surfaces of the mesocomposites were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that 13 wt.% fibre loading has the best tensile strength and modulus with improvements of 15% and 25%, respectively, compared to neat nylon 6. A slight increase in the flexural strength and modulus with increasing fibre loading from 9 to 13 wt.% was observed. However, a lack of performance was observed in the impact strength of the bamboo mesoparticle/nylon 6 composites. Electron microscopic examination revealed no filler clumping aggregation and less void formation when 13 wt.% fibre loading was used, which indicates that a relatively high amount of energy was consumed to break the 13 wt.% bamboo mesoparticle/nylon 6 composites. Overall, the results indicated that the tensile and mechanical properties of bamboo mesoparticle/nylon 6 composites increased with increased fibre loadings.