Processing and characterization of waste dolomite dust filled hemp-epoxy composites Verarbeitung und Charakterisierung von mit Dolomitabfall gefüllten Hanf-Epoxid-Verbundwerkstoffen

The necessity to adapt sustainable development, green chemistry and industrial ecology leads to the creation of newer materials and the utilization of waste. In this context, this work aims at exploring the feasibility of the fabrication of hybrid composites comprised of a polymeric resin reinforced with a natural fiber (hemp) and an industry waste filler (dolomite dust). While the hemp fiber content is kept constant, epoxy-based hybrid composites are fabricated with different weight percentages of dolomite dust using the conventional hand lay-up route. The microstructural features of the constituent materials are studied using stereo and scanning electron microscopes which show the shape and size of dolomite particles and the arrangement of fibers. An x-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of hematite, graphite, lime and manganite. The presence of functional groups like hydroxyl, carboxyl and azide is ascertained from the transmittance spectra of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The density and void fractions are increasing with the amount of filler particles in the composite. It is observed that the tensile and flexural strengths of the composites marginally drop with increase in dolomite dust content, but there is a reasonable improvement in their inter-laminar shear strength, micro-hardness and impact strength values.