Incorporation of coconut shell based nanoparticles in kenaf/coconut fibres reinforced vinyl ester composites
Khalil A.H.P.S.a, Masri M.a, Saurabh C.K.a, Fazita M.R.N.a, Azniwati A.A.a, Sri Aprilia N.A.b, Rosamah E.c, Dungani R.d
a School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia
b Department of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Faculty of Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
c Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia
d School of Life Sciences and Technology, Gandung Labtex XI, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia
Abstract
© 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.In the present study, a successful attempt has been made on enhancing the properties of hybrid kenaf/ coconut fibers reinforced vinyl ester composites by incorporating nanofillers obtained from coconut shell. Coconut shells were grinded followed by 30 h of high energy ball milling for the production of nanoparticles. Particle size analyzer demonstrated that the size of 90% of obtained nanoparticles ranged between 15-140 nm. Furthermore, it was observed that the incorporation of coconut shell nanofillers into hybrid composite increased water absorption capacity. Moreover, tensile, flexural, and impact strength increased with the filler loading up to 3 wt.% and thereafter decrease was observed at higher filler concentration. However, elongation at break decreased and thermal stability increased in nanoparticles concentration dependent manner. Morphological analysis of composite with 3% of filler loading showed minimum voids and fiber pull outs and this indicated that the stress was successfully absorbed by the fiber.
Author keywords
Coconut fiber,Coconut shells,Concentration-dependent manners,High-energy ball milling,Hybrid composites,Particle size analyzers,Vinyl esters,Water absorption capacity
Indexed keywords
Coconut fiber,Coconut shell nanoparticles,Hybrid composite,Kenaf fiber,Vinyl ester