A Comprehensive Analysis of the Physical and Mechanical Responses of Sisal-Epoxy Hybrid Composites to Varied Groundnut Shell Particulate Levels

Abstract

Sustainable material development has a huge potential for meeting future material demands globally. This research supports such requirements by involving sustainable material sources such as Groundnut shells and sisal to develop the new material by reinforcing them in the epoxy matrix. The waste of groundnut shells was employed in this investigation as filler in the powder form. In the composite, the filler content was increased in the order of 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. % and the epoxy content was decreased in the order of 55, 50, 45 and 40 wt. %, but the composition percentage remained constant at 40 wt. % for sisal in all composite samples. At 20% concentration of filler, the tensile and flexural strengths are 18% and 14%, respectively. The impact strength for a lower concentration of the filler (up to 10 wt. %) was found to be better than that for the higher concentrations of filler. Through Scanning electron microscopy, the mechanical fluctuations revealed the changes in the composite microstructure. The mechanical and physical properties of sisal and epoxy hybrid composite were found to be complexly influenced by groundnut shell content in the composite.