Effect of silane-treated lignin and hybrid bamboo-green pea sheath fiber on mechanical, wear, and wettability behavior of epoxy structural composite

Abstract

Composite materials are predominantly utilized in most of the manufacturing and infrastructural application due to its light-weight, cost-effective nature. However, there is presence of certain critics on composite due to over use of chemical-based compounds. To reduce such issues, the present study investigates biocomposite material using green pea pod lignin– and bamboo-green pea fiber–reinforced epoxy. The main aim of this study is to examine the mechanical, fatigue, wear, thermal conductivity, and water absorption performance of the biocomposite. The composite material is fabricated, using hand layup process. As per ASTM standard, the fabricated composites are tested under ambient temperature condition. The study demonstrates that addition of fiber of 40 vol.% and filler of 1 vol.% silane-treated lignin macromolecule in EBL2 provides optimal concentration, improving the composite’s structural integrity, stress distribution, and reducing micro-crack propagation. The 2.0% silane-treated lignin macromolecule in EBL3, although slightly less effective in tensile and flexural properties of 171.2 MPa and 214 MPa when compared to EBL2, of 181.9 MPa and 224.7 MPa respectively, still shows significant enhancements due to increased cross-linking density and reinforcement within the composite matrix. From the obtained result, that silane treatment on both the fiber and filler particle shows maximum mechanical, fatigue, wear, thermal conductivity, and water absorption properties of the composite. Owing to such features, the biocomposite material is applied to sectors such as automotive, aviation, defense, infrastructural civil, and marine engineering applications.