Thermosetting Polymer and Nano Clay Based Natural Fiber Bio- Composites

Biocomposite materials based on natural fibres are of great interest, often due to their low cost origin. Natural fibre reinforced biocomposites are emerging as a possible substitute to glass fibre reinforced composites. Owing to the advantage of low cost, low density, reduced energy consumption, natural fibres offer an opportunity to developing countries to use their own natural resources for producing composite materials. Although glass and other synthetic fibre-reinforced plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of the inherent higher cost of production. In the present work experiments have been conducted to study the influence of nano clay in polyester resin based composites reinforced with coir fibres. Themechanical properties of the composite are evaluated. The addition of nano clay to the coirfibre reinforced composites exhibited considerable enhancement in the mechanical propertiesat lower cost and therefore can be used as a substitute to glass fibres.