Rice straw and energy reed fibers reinforced phenol formaldehyde resin polymeric biocomposites

Abstract

Herein, natural fiber (energy reeds and rice straw) reinforced with phenol formaldehyde (PF) polymeric resin biocomposites are developed and reported in this study. The dimensions of energy reeds and rice straws used for this research were 0.5–1.66 mm and 0.1–3.55 mm, respectively. The hot-pressing technology was used for manufacturing the biocomposites. The proportions for mixing of rice straw/energy reed fibers in composite systems were 90/0, 54/36, 36/54, and 0/90 whereas remaining 10% were belong to PF resin. The nominal densities of the biocomposite panels were 680 kg/m3, however the actual densities were 713.655, 725, 742.79, and 764.49 kg/m3. The main objective of this study is to develop hybrid biocomposites from different proportions of energy reeds and rice straw fibers using PF resin and to find the convenient ratio and materials for biocomposites production. The obtained results demonstrate that mechanical properties and stability against the moisture increases with the increase of energy reeds loading in the composite systems. The biocomposite developed from 100% energy reeds provided the higher mechanical properties compared to 100% rice straw. The thermal and morphological properties of the produced biocomposite materials were investigated and found significant. The thermo-mechanical properties of the composite materials increase with the increase in energy reed fiber loading in composite system. Furthermore, the coefficient of variation (R2) also demonstrates a positive attributions of energy reed fibers loading in composite systems. Moreover, the overall performances of the developed biocomposite panels demonstrate them as potential and novel candidate to the composite community in the coming times. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].