Experimental Response of Nonwoven Waste Cellulose Fabric-Reinforced Epoxy Composites for High Toughness and Coating Applications

In this article, the authors have fabricated (using the manual hand lay-up method) and characterized in detail the nonwoven waste cellulose fabric (with varying weight percentages of 0, 7, 9, and 11) reinforced epoxy resin composites. The methodology to develop in conjunction with various physical (density, water absorption, and thickness swelling), mechanical (tensile, compression, flexural, hardness, and impact), thermal (differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and derivative thermogravimetric analysis), morphological (scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction), and electrical characterization tests were performed to give complete insight into the mechanics of epoxy fabric laminates. It was predicted from these tests that with an increasing weight percentage of fabric, most of the mechanical properties improved and were complemented through the microstructural morphological tests. Enhanced mechanical strength and thermal stability of the developed composite (relative to the neat epoxy resin) pave its way for high toughness and coating applications in various engineering fields.