Novel Spinifex littoreus fibre and sugarcane biosilica on mechanical, wear, time dependent and water absorption behaviour of epoxy structural composite

A new Spinifex littoreus fibre-reinforced sugarcane bagasse biosilica particle dispersed epoxy resin hybrid composite was made and described. The major goal of this study was to develop a novel epoxy hybrid composite system that included surface-treated Spinifex littoreus fibre and sugarcane biosilica particle for sustainable material development. The fibre was treated with alkali and silane whereas the biosilica was treated with silane alone. The hand layup process was used to create the composites, which were then post-cured at 110 °C. The composites with base and silane-treated fibres have improved mechanical properties. The tensile and flexural strengths of the composite containing 1vol% powder were 148 and 155 MPa, respectively. Similarly, with a Shore-D value of 94, the composite designation SPS 4 has the highest hardness. Moreover, 2 vol% powder added composites explicated improved wear resistance. Composite fatigue behaviour has significantly improved with a fatigue life count of 26,822 for the composite designation SPS 3 . The water absorption % of silane-treated biosilica particle in epoxy produced controlled water uptake. These improved composites might be used in structural, automotive, aerospace, residential and military applications.