Processing and characterization of epoxy composites reinforced with short human hair

National Conference on Processing and Characterization of Materials

Nanda, Bishnu Prasad^1 ; Satapathy, Alok^1

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

769008, India^1

关键词: Biological wastes;    Chemical compositions;    Different proportions;    Environmental problems;    Epoxy composite;    Hair fibers;    High-tensile strength;    Microstructural features;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/178/1/012012/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/178/1/012012

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Human hair is a biological fiber with well characterized microstructure. It has many unique properties like high tensile strength, thermal insulation, unique chemical composition, elastic recovery, scaly surface etc. But due to its slow decomposition, it creates many environmental problems. Although a number of utilization avenues are already in place, hair is still considered as a biological waste. In view of this, the present work makes an attempt to explore the possibility of fabricating a class of polymer composites reinforced with short human hair fibers. Epoxy composites with different proportions of hair fiber (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt.%) are prepared by simple hand lay-up technique. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural and compressive strengths were evaluated by conducting tests as per ASTM standards. It was found out that with the increase in fiber content, the tensile and flexural strength of the composite were increasing significantly while the compressive strength improved marginally. Scanning electron microscopy was done on these samples to observe the microstructural features.