Analysis of Tensile and Hardness of Empty Fruit Bunch/Chitosan Reinforced with Graphene Oxide Composite Film

Natural fibre-reinforced polymer is gaining attraction in automotive industry recently due to environmental concerns. It is also driven by the need to manufacture lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles. Herein, empty fruit bunch/chitosan reinforced with graphene oxide (EFB/C/GO) composite’s properties were investigated. The developed EFB/C/GO through hot compression moulding shows good dispersion of fillers with the presence of voids on the surface. Functional groups were also observed in the FTIR analysis. The tensile strength analysis shows the EFB/C/GO registered lower value (11.42 MPa) as compared to EFB/C composite (31.19 MPa). However, the elastic modulus is more than 340 times larger as compared to EFB/C. The Rockwell hardness of EFB/C/GO is also four times higher than the EFB/C composite. This indicates EFB/C/GO has a higher resistance to change in shape but brittle while EFB/C is stiffer and ductile with lower resistance to shape changes.