R. Udhayasankar and B. Karthikeyan
Abstract
Coconut shell derived from coconut has limited economic value. It is a kind of hard lignocellulosic agro wastes which have been used as an industry filler materials and potential reinforcement in polymer materials. In this work, composites are developed using coconut shell particles in cardanol resin. Composite containing coconut shell particle with an average size of 50 μm untreated and treated for various particle content (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 Wt. %) are prepared by compression moulding technique. Effects of the particle content and alkaline treatment on the mechanical properties, thermal and morphological characteristics have been evaluated experimentally. The study reveals that the alkaline-treated coconut shell composites exhibit better mechanical and thermal properties, because of the compatibility of coconut shell with CR. However, estimation of tensile strength and flexural strength values expanded up to 30% particle content, and after that diminished for higher particle content. The composite tensile and flexural strength, for the most part, expanded with diminishing particle measure. In any case, the tensile and flexural modulus of the composites were observed to be basically free of particle size, while the effect strength diminished with increment in particle content. SEM images of treated coconut shell provide ample evidence for the increased mechanical properties of the composites. The increased thermal stability of it is evident from the thermo gravimetric analysis.