Effect of filler ratio on mechanical and thermal properties of coconut fiber/fly ash-reinforced hybrid polymer composites

Making use of a natural source material for the development of composite is currently appealing to researchers. This appeal is motivated by a desire to create an environmentally friendly product. Natural resource such as coconut fiber (CF) and fly ash (FA) can be used as raw materials to produce composite. When these two materials are combined, they form a hybrid material with properties similar to the raw material. This research studied the effect of coconut fiber and fly ash ratio as a filler in manufacturing composite materials on several aspects, such as mechanical and thermal properties. The mold pressing method is used to create composite materials. An alkali treatment was performed to remove lignin and hemicellulose from coconut fiber. The ratio of CF/FA (10/4, 7/4, 4/4, 4/7, and 4/10%wt) to the composite material’s mechanical and thermal properties were studied. When more coconut fiber was used than fly ash, the mechanical properties (tensile and flexural strength) improved. Meanwhile, adding more fly ash to the composite material can improve its thermal properties. This study created hybrid composites (CF and FA) with different mechanical and thermal benefits.