Development and Characterization of Hybrid Particulate-fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Although considered wastes, animal fibers and gastropod shell particles are biodegradable, have low density, high stiffness, considerably high impact absorption capacity and relatively low cost. Therefore, they are finding increasing use as reinforcement materials in polymer composites. This research work studied the tensile, hardness, and wear resistance properties of hybrid snail shell (SSP) and chicken feather barb fibers (CFB) reinforced epoxy composites. The stir cast molding technique was utilized to synthesize the composite samples with 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 wt.% of the hybrid SSPs/CFB. Compared with the control samples, SSP/CFB hybrid reinforcements enhanced the mechanical properties of the composites. Composites with intermediate weight fraction of 9 wt.% SSP/CFB exhibited overall optimum properties when benchmarked against the control sample with approximately 37, 37, 133, 19, and 59% improvement in wear, hardness, impact, and ultimate tensile strength properties respectively. These enhancements suggested a synergistic effect of the two reinforcement phases. The results presented in this study demonstrated the potential of utilizing bio-derived waste materials for synthesizing eco-friendly composites.