Study of Flame Retardant and Mechanical Properties of Coconut Shell Particles Filled Composite

Abstract

The flammability, thermal stability and mechanical properties of natural filler reinforced composites were measured using a horizontal burning test, thermo-gravimetric analyzer, and universal testing machine, respectively. The composites were fabricated from epoxy resins and coconut shell particles treated with diammonium phosphate. To improve the flame retardancy of the bio-composites, 5% of diammonium phosphates (DAP) were treated into the different weight percentage of coconut shell particles. In general, the results indicate that increasing the weight percentage of coconut shell particles treated with 5% DAP effectively improves the flame resistant, weight loss rate and hardness but decreases the tensile strength and impact strength of the composites. The good linear burning rate and weight loss rate was observed at 30 wt% of coconut shell particles treated with 5% DAP.