Mechanical Characterization of Bio-epoxy Green Composites Derived from Sodium Bicarbonate Treated Punica Granatum Short Fiber Agro-waste

Abstract

Investigations into green materials owing to the growing environmental concerns have become one of the hot topics for the scientific community. The present work aims to fabricate and investigate the mechanical and physical properties of short Punica granatum fiber (SPGF) reinforced bio epoxy (BE) biocomposites. The bio epoxy has been derived from cashew-nut shell oil. The composites are fabricated using different wt% of SPGF (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) that are chemically treated using 10 wt% sodium bicarbonate solution for different treatment duration i.e., 1 day, 5 days and 10 days. It has been revealed through the chemical characterization approach of X-ray diffraction (XRD) methodology that the aforementioned eco-friendly chemical treatment process doesn’t promote the transformation of the treated SPGFs to cellulose II from cellulose I. Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis reveals degradation of hemicellulose as well as the pectin content of the SPGFs. The effect of the chemical treatment with varied treatment duration on the mechanical properties as such tensile, flexural, and impact properties of fabricated green composites are investigated. The physical properties such, water absorption, moisture content, and thickness swelling are also investigated. The mechanical properties of the fabricated composites weren’t affected by the alkaline treatment. However, better physical properties and mechanical properties were revealed for the composites fabricated using 5 days treated Punica granatum short fibers in comparison to other dissolution conditions. The alkaline treatment, therefore, proves to be effective in enhancing the properties of the composite specimen. The treatment process takes care of the environmental concerns as it is benign to the environment when disposed of in comparison to the strong alkaline treatment solutions. Moreover, the developed green composites promote sustainable and cleaner processing in the world of composites.