Abstract
Understanding the curing behavior of epoxy is a critical aspect in the production of epoxy-based composite and pivotal for process optimization. This study focusses on evaluating the curing kinetic parameters of hemp fiber/bio-epoxy composite at different fiber loading (0–30 wt%). The apparent activation energy was determined using Vyazovkin model. The results revealed an intricate chemistry between hemp fibers and bio-epoxy curing mechanism. The activation energy decreased upon the addition of fibers, indicating the catalytic effect of hemp fibers in the curing kinetics of epoxy resin. Further, at low fiber loading exhibiting augmented curing reaction up to 15 wt% fiber loading, whereas a decreased trend was observed thereafter. As a result, the curing time required to cure the bio epoxy was reduced notably when the fiber loading was less than 15 wt%. Hemp fibers with excellent functional groups such as hydroxyl moieties that actively facilitated the curing reaction, providing insight into their role of augmenting curing efficiency. This research provides crucial insights into tailoring the curing conditions and augment the process control efficiency in the manufacturing of thermoset composites.
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