Utilization of wrightia tinctoria nano seed fibers as a reinforcement in the preparation of epoxy-based composites

Abstract

Natural  seed  fiber  reinforced  composite  materials  are  replacing  many  conventional  ones  because  of  their  excellent properties, less weight, easy availability, etc. Composite materials are used in many areas because  of their  superior  features.  Mechanical  property  is  one  of  the  vital  parameters  for  choosing  the  material. The current investigation has revealed an importance of recently well-known Wrightia tinctoria nano seed fibers  (WTNSFs), which are extracted physically. Wrightia tinctoria nano seed fiber reinforced composite was prepared with the epoxy resin by hand layup method. Epoxy resin is easy to handle and available at low cost. Mechanical tests are conducted reinforced composites of plain epoxy and WTNSFs to obtain strength properties like tensile, flexural, impact. Water absorption tests also performed on composites. Here, the developed composites are easy to handle, offered economically, and used primarily in marine applications due to less water absorption and good wax  content.  A  comprehensive  description  of  different  tests  and  the  properties  of  WTNSFs  are  studied and compared  with  the  other  existing  natural  fibers.  This  work  showed  that  35%  combination  of  WTNSFs reinforced epoxy matrix offers enhanced mechanical properties with minimum water absorption compared with plain epoxy composites.