Development and systematic Characterization of cardanol based Epoxy resins and their banana fibre Reinforced composites

Abstract

Environmental aspects and fast depletion of fossil fuels initiate concentration on the utilization of agricultural wastes as raw materials for the development of polymeric materials. Economically favourable composites from the plant derived fibres and crop derived plastics are the most keenly required materials of the twenty first century. Therefore, most suitable polymer composites materials are expected to be made from sustainable plastics in combination with inexpensive reinforcement materials and natural fibre for sustainable applications. newlineThe present study mainly deals with the development of polymer composites using matrix and reinforcements from the agro waste natural resources. Matrix was formulated by using agro based industrial waste byproduct, cardanol, obtained from cashew nut shell liquid. It is a naturally occurring phenolic source serves as partial replacement for conventional epoxy resin. Bisphenol-A, the monomer of commercial epoxy resin, has negative biological effect over human health. This motivated to choose cardanol, a natural monomer, for matrix synthesis. Cardanol is a meta substituted alkyl phenol from Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) that gives feasible reaction mechanism to form a novolac resin. Phenolic OH of cardanol was epoxidised and blended with commercial epoxy resin in various ratios which introduces flexibility to epoxy resins and reduces the toxicity. Inorganic fillers, SiO2 (SD) and Mg(OH)2 (MO) are incorporated with synthesized cardanol based resins to improve the inherent physical, mechanical and flammable properties. newline