Physico Chemical and Mechanical Properties of Natural Cellulosic Water Hyacinth Fiber and Its Composites

• Published in: Journal of natural fibers Vol. 19; no. 15; pp. 11413 - 11423
• Main Authors: Dass, Amalraju, Chellamuthu, Sabarinathan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 23.11.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Aquatic plants; Cellulose; Chemical analysis; chemical properties; Compression; epoxy composites; Epoxy resins; Fiber composites; Fiber reinforced polymers; Floating plants; Industrial applications; Mechanical failure; Mechanical properties; Pressure molding; Scanning electron microscopy; SEM; structure of WH fiber; Water hyacinths; WH fiber; WH 纤维; WH纤维的结构; 力学性能; 化学性质; 环氧复合材料
• ISSN: 1544-0478; 1544-046X
• DOI: 10.1080/15440478.2022.2025979

Physicochemical and mechanical characterization of Water Hyacinth (WH) fiber was reported in this paper. Compression molding technique is used to fabricate WH fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. The chemical analysis indicates that the WH fiber contains higher percentage of cellulose and lignin content and lesser amount of ash and wax content. Structure of WH fiber shown from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. Four different ratio's of fiber and epoxy resin were used to fabricate the composites (25:75, 30:70, 35:65, 40:60), first two digit mention the fiber content and last two digit are mention resin. The result shows that at 35 wt.% of the fiber content in the composite provides a better improvement in properties. Results shown from the SEM depicts that the reason for fiber breakage, matrix fracture and pull-out of fiber is mechanical failure which stands as main mechanism. It stands as victim that WH fiber-reinforced composites can be used in various industrial applications.