Enset ventricosum Fibre-Based Biocomposite Preparation with Wood Apple Shell Particles as a Filler: Effect of Alkali Treatment and Optimization of Composition for Physio-Mechanical Properties

In polymer matrix composites (PMCs), reinforced lignocellulosic fibres are one of the excellent endeavours; doing so eliminates the need for the more commonplace synthetic fibres. In this respect, the fibres from Enset ventricosum (EV), one of the underutilized which have not been studied extensively, were focused to carry out an investigation on PMCs applications using the particles of Limonia acidissima fruit shell powder (LASP) as reinforcing agent. The study set out to evaluate the adeptness of altered LASP and EV plant fibres by 4% NaOH treatment. The results from morphological, physicochemical, XRD, FTIR, and thermal aspects of alkali-treated samples of LASP and EV fibres revealed that the alkali treatment significantly improved the compatibility of biomaterial’ property to utilize the natural fillers in the epoxy–EV fibre composites. The first-degree polynomial model was fitted using the response surface analysis to optimize the impact energy, water absorption, tensile, and flexural strength of reinforced fibre with respect to composition and fibre length. Using RSM numerical model, aforementioned properties were analysed to develop the ideal epoxy–EV fibre composite for attaining a minimal water absorption, a high tensile modulus, flexural strength, and impact energy. Accordingly, 3 mm of fibre length reinforcement with 38.3 wt % of biomaterials loading reinforcement was found to be optimized for idealistic epoxy–EV fibre composite.