Investigation of coconut shell fillers loaded and pine apple fiber reinforced epoxy sandwich composites

The Coconut Shell Fillers (CSF) loaded with different wt% (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50) and reinforced with a single layer of Pine Apple Fibre Mat (PAFM) epoxy sandwich polymer composites were fabricated through closed mold hand layup techniques. The sandwich composite specimens were carried out the mechanical characterization and found the maximum tensile strength (42 ± 0.5 MPa), compressive strength (39 ± 0.5 MPa), flexural strength (133 ± 0.5 MPa), and Shore D Hardness (90 ± 0.5 SHN). Using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the CSF, the fillers’ cubic and tetragonal structures were discovered. The Field Emission Electron Microscope (FESEM) was revealed the surface morphology of the 30 wt% CSF loaded PAFM sandwich composite. The different elements present in the composite were identified through Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX) such as O₂, Mg, Si, N, Ca, and Cl respectively. The melting point, energy absorption, and thermal degradations of the composite was found through Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The energy absorbed by the composite was − 11.46 J/g at the peak temperature of 279.5ºC. The onset exothermic temperature is 256.9ºC and the end temperature is 285.5ºC. The newly fabricated CSF fillers loaded PAFM reinforced sandwich composite could be used in switchboard panels, door panels in bathrooms, modular kitchens, and interior cabins.