Abstract
Polymer blends is a well-established and suitable method to produced new polymeric materials as compared to synthesis of a new polymer. The combination of two different types of polymers will produce a new and unique material, which has the attribute of both polymers. The aim of this work is to analyze mechanical and morphological properties of bio-phenolic/epoxy polymer blends to find the best formulation for future study. Bio-phenolic/epoxy polymer blends were fabricated using the hand lay-up method at different loading of bio-phenolic (5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt%, 20 wt%, and 25 wt%) in the epoxy matrix whereas neat bio-phenolic and epoxy samples were also fabricated for comparison. Results indicated that mechanical properties were improved for bio-phenolic/epoxy polymer blends compared to neat epoxy and phenolic. In addition, there is no sign of phase separation in polymer blends. The highest tensile, flexural, and impact strength was shown by P-20(biophenolic-20 wt% and Epoxy-80 wt%) whereas P-25 (biophenolic-25 wt% and Epoxy-75 wt%) has the highest tensile and flexural modulus. Based on the finding, it is concluded that P-20 shows better overall mechanical properties among the polymer blends. Based on this finding, the bio-phenolic/epoxy blend with 20 wt% will be used for further study on flax-reinforced bio-phenolic/epoxy polymer blends.
Highlights
The needs of high-performance materials have driven researchers to studies on various methods, such as polymer synthesis and modification
The ability of bio-phenolic/epoxy polymer blends to resist breaking under tensile stress and its rigidity were studied by examining the tensile strength and modulus
It clears from results that the addition of 5 wt% bio-phenolic slightly reduce the properties of the polymer blend compared to neat epoxy while it has better tensile strength compared to neat phenolic
Summary
The needs of high-performance materials have driven researchers to studies on various methods, such as polymer synthesis and modification. There are three reasons for replacing petroleum-based phenolic with bio-based phenolic, which are needed for more sustainable bio-sources of materials, enhance the performance of the resin, and improve health and safety during manufacturing and end use [19]. Epoxy is another thermoset polymer, which have excellent mechanical properties compared to phenolic. The purposed of this study is to investigate the effect of different loadings of bio-phenolic resin on tensile, flexural, impact, and morphological properties of epoxy composite. It was expected that the mechanical properties of bio-phenolic/epoxy polymer blends were improved compared to neat epoxy and phenolic composites. The finding in this study will be used in a future study for ballistic helmet application by using flax and carbon/kevlar as reinforcement
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