Development of functional (flame‐retardant and anti‐bacterial) and hybrid (carbon‐glass/epoxy) composites with improved low velocity impact response

High‐performance synthetic fiber reinforced composites are utilized in high‐tech applications due to their higher mechanical properties. However, in previous work, these composites were not used in outdoor (parks, picnic) and hygienic (hospitals, schools, offices) furniture applications due to fire hazards and bacterial attack. In this work, functional (flame retardant and anti‐bacterial) composites were fabricated along with improved low velocity impact (LVI) response. In the first part of the work, glass/epoxy composites were loaded with the different zirconium phosphate (ZrP) particles percentages (5%, 10%, and 15%) to optimize their flame retardancy and LVI properties. In the second part, glass/epoxy composites were loaded with different zinc oxide (ZnO) particles percentages (0.5%, 1% and 1.5%) to optimize their anti‐bacterial and LVI properties. ZrP with 15% concentration showed the highest value of flame retardancy, and energy absorption (31.70 J) and maximum impact force (1377 N) during drop weight impact test. Also, ZnO with 1.5% concentration showed the best anti‐bacterial activity along with improved LVI response (29.70 J absorbed absorbed). In the third part, these optimized percentages of ZrP (15%) and ZnO (1.5%) were used for the development of the hybrid carbon‐glass epoxy composites. Overall, hybrid H3 (GCCG) and H4 (CGGC) showed the optimized and comparable flame retardancy, anti‐bacterial and LVI (29.70 J {H3} and 29.20 J {H4} absorbed absorbed) response.