Influences of silicon carbide nanoparticles on graphite reinforced sisal (agave sisalana) fiber hybrid composite: behaviour study

Natural fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites have great potential in various engineering applications due to their lightweight, bio-degradable, non-toxic, and easy availability. However, natural fibers have low inherent behaviour during the preparation of composite. The present investigation is an attempt to enhance an inherent performance of epoxy hybrid nanocomposite with the inclusion of 30 wt% NaOH treated sisal (Agave sisalana) fiber, varied (5, 10, and 15 wt%) weight percentages of nano silicon carbide (SiC) and blended with 5 wt% graphite particles. Compression mould synthesized epoxy composite samples are subjected to surface morphology, flexural strength, toughness, and abrasion studies. The scanning electron microscope results showed the homogenous particle distribution and composite sample 4 (epoxy/30 wt% sisal fiber/15 wt% SiC/5 wt% Gr) is found to have a superior flexural strength of 73.5±0.5 MPa, high fracture toughness of 1.62 MPa m^0.5, enhanced wear resistance (0.023 mg/m), and good frictional coefficient.