Optimizing Biomedical Facilities Performance with Dombeya Fiber-Paper Particle Hybrid Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the use of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites has garnered significant attention over synthetic fiber-reinforced composites owing to their numerous advantages and unique properties. Likewise, epoxy resins have attracted the interest of many researchers for composite synthesis because of their chemical stability and thermal and mechanical characteristics. Hence, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the influence of Dombeya fiber and paper particulates on the physical and mechanical properties of Dombeya fiber and paper particulate-reinforced polymer composites for structural applications. Dombeya fiber and paper particles are renewable and biodegradable materials, thereby making them environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic materials. The hand lay-up technique was utilized to fabricate hybrid-reinforced biocomposites, after which they were subjected to mechanical, wear, density, and moisture absorption properties. The morphology of the fractured surface was analyzed to investigate its microstructural features. It was discovered from the results that hybrid biocomposites demonstrated improved properties over the unreinforced composite, with composites from 9-wt% dombeya fiber-paper particle-reinforced biocomposites exhibiting the most suitable properties with commensurate density with the unreinforced epoxy matrix. These characteristics make the material suitable for biomedical apparatus applications such as orthopedic implants, surgical instruments, and bone fixation devices.