Scholarlink

<p>The growing demand for sustainable materials has driven the development of bio-composites reinforced with natural fibers and modified with bio-based resins. Traditional epoxy systems suffer from brittleness and petroleum dependency, necessitating greener alternatives with enhanced toughness. This study hypothesizes that partially replacing epoxy with castor oil and reinforcing it with NaOH-treated aloe vera fibers will synergistically improve mechanical, thermal, and tribological properties. Composites with 30 wt% castor oil and 0–20 wt% aloe vera fibers were fabricated via compression moulding and tested per ASTM standards. The 15 wt% fiber composite showed peak performance: tensile strength of 52.3 MPa, flexural strength of 86.08 MPa, impact strength of 3 J mm<sup>−2</sup>, lowest wear rate, and minimum thermal conductivity (0.38 W m<sup>−1</sup> K<sup>−1</sup>). These results confirm that the 30 wt% castor oil-modified epoxy optimally reinforced with 15 wt% aloe vera fibers forms a high-performance, sustainable composite suitable for structural, automotive and insulation applications.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Influence of aloe vera fiber weight percentage on the mechanical, thermal and tribological properties of castor oil toughened epoxy composites

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月10日

查看全文
  • R. Purushothaman,
  • A. Balaji

摘要

The growing demand for sustainable materials has driven the development of bio-composites reinforced with natural fibers and modified with bio-based resins. Traditional epoxy systems suffer from brittleness and petroleum dependency, necessitating greener alternatives with enhanced toughness. This study hypothesizes that partially replacing epoxy with castor oil and reinforcing it with NaOH-treated aloe vera fibers will synergistically improve mechanical, thermal, and tribological properties. Composites with 30 wt% castor oil and 0–20 wt% aloe vera fibers were fabricated via compression moulding and tested per ASTM standards. The 15 wt% fiber composite showed peak performance: tensile strength of 52.3 MPa, flexural strength of 86.08 MPa, impact strength of 3 J mm−2, lowest wear rate, and minimum thermal conductivity (0.38 W m−1 K−1). These results confirm that the 30 wt% castor oil-modified epoxy optimally reinforced with 15 wt% aloe vera fibers forms a high-performance, sustainable composite suitable for structural, automotive and insulation applications.