A comparative study on the tensile properties and environmental suitability of glass fibre/raffia palm/plantain fibres hybridized epoxy bio-composites

Bio-composites have been widely introduced as sustainable alternative engineering materials, due to their environmental friendliness. The aim of this study was to assess the variations in the mechanical and biodegradation behaviours of natural fibres (raffia palm and plantain fibres) reinforced composites, and compared them to artificial fibres composites. Bio-composite samples produced through hybridization of glass fibre, plantain fibre and raffia palm fibre, were tested (mechanical and biodegradability tests) in accordance with ASTM International accepted procedures. The biodegradability results indicated that, the tensile strength and tensile elongation for all composites decreased non-linearly during the 28 days of soil treatment. Also, it was observed that the mechanical properties of the natural fibres reinforced bio-composites declined faster, when compared to the synthetic fibre reinforced composite. The bio-composite produced solely with natural fibres (PFRF) had the highest tensile strength reduction rate (43.86%), while the composite produced with solely synthetic fibre (glass fibre) had the minimum tensile strength declining rate (2.18%), at the end of the soil treatment. Regarding the tensile elongation, the PFRF bio-composite had the highest decrement (89.98%), when compared to the 53.28 and 45.92% recorded in the CFPF and CFRF reinforced bio-composites, respectively. With respect to weight loss, it was observed that the weight loss was gradual during the initial period of the soil treatment. However, the bio-composite with the two natural fibres (PFRF) exhibited more pronounced weight loss (46.4%); while the sample with the synthesized fibre (CF) exhibited more resistance to biodegradation (6.23% weight loss). The study results demonstrated that plantain fibre and raffia fibre are environmentally friendly, and composites produced from them developed appreciable tensile properties; hence, they can be used to produce composite for automobile parts.