Evaluation of physical and mechanical properties of epoxy composites filled with bio-fiber derived from bambara nut shell fiber

Abstract

Abstract In this work, bio-fibre composites work by blending epoxy polymer matrix with hardener and Bambara nut shell fibre (BNS) as a reinforcing filler to investigate the physical, mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of the BNS/epoxy composites. The materials herein presented have shown an excellent mechanical performance in terms of tensile, flexural, impact and hardness properties. The study shows that the maximum mechanical properties of the composites are achieved at 15 wt%, as evidenced by the SEM. The study also proved that increasing filler loading from 5-35wt% decreased the thermal properties compared to the control sample A, as evidenced by TGA/DTG. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) analysis demonstrated that increasing filler loading caused a drastic increase in Tg and Tm, which led to the composites becoming brittle.