Studies on evaluation of mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties of aloe vera-, corn-, eucalyptus-, and soybean fiber-reinforced epoxy biocomposites

Increasing demands for plastic materials create a serious restraint on environmental sustainability and restraint the utilization of synthetic products to fabricate the materials for the extended endurance of future generations. In the present research, plant-based products like aloe vera, corn, eucalyptus, and soybean fibers were selected as a reinforcement. All these plant-based fibers were reinforced with epoxy polymer (Araldite LY 556) to develop the composite materials. Epoxy-based biocomposites have numerous applications ranging from automobile, aerospace, and structural or non-structural components due to their lightweight and high specific strength. Among all the developed composites, the soybean-epoxy composite displayed the roughest surface, while the aloe vera-epoxy composite had the smoothest surface. However, aloe vera-epoxy composite absorbed more of the amount of water than any other composite within the water absorption test. Soybean-epoxy composite absorbed maximum heat at a glass transition temperature of 363.987 °C. The composite made of soybean and epoxy had the greatest flexural strength and modulus, followed by composites made of aloe vera-epoxy, eucalyptus-epoxy, and corn-epoxy. The soybean-epoxy composite had a greater tensile strength and tensile modulus, whereas the corn-epoxy composite had a larger elongation at break, followed by the soybean-epoxy, eucalyptus-epoxy, and aloe vera-epoxy composites. The impact strength of the soybean-epoxy composite was greater. The soybean-epoxy composite showed reduced fiber debonding, which may have contributed to the composite’s higher mechanical strength. As a result, it was discovered that soybean outperformed other composites in most of the tests, with aloe vera coming in second.