Study on characterization of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) novel natural fiber as reinforcement with epoxy polymer matrix material for lightweight applications

Abstract

In this study, the primary goal is to utilize the biological waste of water hyacinth (Eihhornia crassipes) plant fiber–reinforced polymer composite materials for commercial applications, especially for lightweight materials aspects. In this work, the physical, mechanical (tensile, flexural, and impact), thermal, and morphological properties of water hyacinth natural fiber composite samples are investigated. We strongly believe that only a minimum amount of work has to be done to this water hyacinth fiber composite oriented. Especially all the previous literature reported the hyacinth fibers are extracted from the retting process and manual method. But, in this work, hyacinth fibers are extracted from the new novel mechanical way of the extraction process. From the results of chemical analysis, water hyacinth fiber contains a very high 62.15% cellulose content and a minimum amount (14.82%) of hemicellulose content. The crystallinity index of water hyacinth fiber composite is 54.82%. The surface of the hyacinth composite is examined with the help of a scanning electron microscope. The thermal degradation of hyacinth fiber composite is measured with the help of the thermogravimetric analysis method. Based on the final experimental results, the water hyacinth natural fiber composite is the better alternative for other traditional fiber composites and it is strongly recommended for lightweight material applications.