Experimental investigations on glass/kenaf fibre reinforced mangosteen husk biochar epoxy composite
摘要
Sustainable material developments are increased in recent days, especially, in manufacturing industry such as automotive, aviation, domestic household and recreational sector, etc. Composite material is a kind of sustainable material having distinct physical and chemical properties, and also having better strength features and lightweight in nature. The present study aims to study the synthetic glass fiber and natural Kenaf fiber along with mangosteen husk biochar particle reinforced epoxy composite and their mechanical, wear, and thermal conductivity properties. The composite is developed by hand layup method and their performance was analysed in accordance to the ASTM standard. The result demonstrated that the composite EF22 (40 vol% Glass/Kenaf/Kenaf/Glass fiber and 3 vol% silane-treated biochar particle) exhibits maximum mechanical strength features of tensile, flexural, impact, and hardness strength of 176 MPa, 206 MPa, 4.4 J, and 88 shore-d, respectively. Glass fibers give the strength and stiffness, while Kenaf fibers aid in energy absorption and crack resistance. Additionally, composite EF32 (3 vol.% biochar, glass/Kenaf/glass/Kenaf fiber) exhibits the highest thermal conductivity and wear resistance performance, with a specific wear rate of 0.014 mm3/Nm, COF of 0.24, and a thermal conductivity of 0.31 W/mK. The reason for this increase in thermal conductivity is that Kenaf and biochar have poor thermal conductivity by nature, and because of their porous structure, their interfacial bonding adhesion effectively blocks the transfer of heat. Furthermore, by reducing surface wear, boosting matrix densification, and fortifying fiber-matrix bonding, the 3 vol% surface-modified biochar acts as a solid lubricant, hence lowering friction and material loss during sliding.