The aim of this paper is to develop a textile waste-based composite material with adequate mechanical, acoustical, and thermal properties for automotive or construction fields. For this purpose, three recycled nonwoven wastes including cotton, polyester, and cotton/polyester blend are employed and blended in epoxy resin. The manufacturing of the composite panels is performed by vacuum infusion technique. Mechanical, thermal and acoustical tests are conducted to characterize the performances of both nonwoven fabrics and composite panels. Theoretical Young’s moduli of different composites are calculated based on the rule of mixtures in two ways and compared with practical results. Results show that mechanical properties of the manufactured panels are significantly improved compared to pure resin without a notable change in the thermal behavior of the epoxy resin, where composite reinforced cotton nonwoven shows a specific Young’s modulus of 3500 MPa/g·cm−3 and a specific tensile strength of 38 MPa/g·cm−3. These panels have been found to be promising materials to decrease the noise emission and good alternatives to pure epoxy products due to their contribution to reducing the textile wastes in landfills as well as the production costs.

The aim of this study is to enhance the fiber-matrix interface of cotton waste reinforced composite panels by a specific chemical treatment. For this purpose, cotton fibers are treated in sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution with three different concentrations (0.5 M, 1 M, and 1.5 M) and three different soaking times combinations (1 h, 3 h, and 5 h). Mechanical evaluation of treated and untreated reinforcements and composite panels are characterized using tensile test whereas the chemistries of fiber reinforcements are investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis and the fiber-matrix interactions are morphologically examined using scanning electron microscopy. Results indicate a remarkable enhancement in mechanical properties of composites via improving the interfacial adhesion and compatibility between fiber and matrix with a significant increase of Young modulus up to 270% for reinforcements and to 70% for composite materials compared to untreated materials.

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