Mechanical and water absorption characterization of Jute/Flax/Polyester hybrid composite for indoor and outdoor applications

Abstract

Research on Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites (NFRCs) is growing at an exponential rate due to their eco-friendliness and high potential to replace synthetic and traditional materials in a variety of applications. These materials are not only environmentally friendly, but also have other qualities including greater strength, lightweight, inexpensive, and biodegradable. In this research, five distinct composites were made: two of them are non-hybrid Jute (20 J) and flax (20 F) fibres, while the other three composites were made with various weight proportions of fibres (15 J/5F, 10 J/10F, and 5 J/15F), which were hybridized into polyester resin using a hand lay-up approach. Experimentation was done to study the tensile, flexural, and impact strengths of the prepared composites. The interaction between the fibres and polyester resin was investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The chemical compounds, fibre constituents, and bonds present in the hybrid composite were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). A water absorption study is carried out to verify the hybrid composites for use in outdoor and indoor environments. The results demonstrated that flax and hybrid composites made with high flax weight content have superior tensile, flexural, and impact strength when compared to jute composites. In contrast, jute and hybrid composites with high jute weight content absorb more water than flax fibres because jute fibres contain less cellulose content than flax. Applications for these composite materials include automotive, packaging, infrastructure, and indoor and outdoor use.