Journal ArticleDOI
Mechanical, Microstructural and Thermal Characterization of Epoxy-Based Human Hair–Reinforced Composites
Akarsh Verma,V. K. Singh +1 more
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors used human hair (HH) fibers in the field of composites and revealed the systematic methodology of fabricating HH with polymers using the wet hand lay-up technique.Abstract:
Owing to their biodegradable nature and cost-effectiveness, natural fibers have attracted the attention of various material scientists. One such fiber is human hair (HH), which is viscoelastic-plastic in nature and encloses well-characterized microstructures within it. An important aspect is that a strand of HH having a diameter of 60 μm is capable of withstanding a force of 100–150 grams/fiber. However, wastage of HH on an enormous scale poses an environmental challenge. Therefore, the authors have utilized this novel fiber in the field of composites and revealed the systematic methodology of fabricating HH with polymers using the wet hand lay-up technique. The diverse compositions of polymer-HH composite, with varying HH weight percentages (wt.%) of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 %, were put to investigation. In the present work, treatment of HH with potassium hydroxide and curing of polymer further enhanced the bonding properties of composites. The specimens were examined micro-structurally through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) tests, followed by the mechanical tests: tensile, compression, flexural, hardness, and impact. Both the microstructural and mechanical tests complemented each other and confirmed that the cured polymer composite speckled with 7 wt.% of HH fiber content was the best of all formulations, as it provided the highest magnification in mechanical properties relative to neat polymer. Finally, the thermal analysis was done via thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques.read more
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Book ChapterDOI
Lifecycle Assessment of Thermoplastic and Thermosetting Bamboo Composites
Akarsh Verma,Akarsh Verma,Naman Jain,Avinash Parashar,Amit Gaur,M. R. Sanjay,Suchart Siengchin +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the lifecycle assessment of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers composites reinforced with bamboo fibers is presented. But the authors do not report on the performance of these composites in terms of environmental friendliness.
Journal ArticleDOI
Degradation analysis of epoxy resin composites reinforced with bioprotein: Effects of hydrolysis using papain and bromelain
Book ChapterDOI
Natural Fibers Based Bio-phenolic Composites
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a discussion on recent development in the bio-phenolic based resin and their composites, including their synthesis process and effect of the molecular ratio of formaldehyde/phenol.
Journal ArticleDOI
Surface topographical studies of glass fiber reinforced epoxy-ZnO nanocomposites
TL;DR: In this article, surface morphology and surface microhardness of unidirectional E-glass fiber epoxy composites filled with varying amount of ZnO nanofiller content such as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wt% were investigated.