Effect of e‐waste materials as filler in the flax woven fiber reinforced polymer composite for a sustainable environment

Abstract

The main aim of the present investigation is to fabricate waste printed circuit board (WPCB) particles and woven bidirectional flax fiber mat reinforced polymer matrix composite through a hand layup technique followed by vacuum bagging technique and examine its mechanical properties using the Universal Testing Machine (UTM), compression testing machine, and Shore D hardness tester. The WPCB particles with weight percentages of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 were used as reinforcement along with five layers of flax fiber mat to improve the adhesion behavior of epoxy resin with reinforcements and thereby improve the properties. The XRF (X‐ray fluorescence) investigation of the prepared WPCB particles confirmed the existence of various toxic elements in the processed printed circuit board (PCB). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed the presence of WPCB particles in the composite, along with flax fiber and resin. The tensile, compression, impact test shows that that the 15 wt.% WPCB particles reinforced flax fiber polymer composite gave betters properties, and the reduction of properties was seen thereafter. The percentage of water absorption increased with the weight percentage of the WPCB particles from 0% to 20%. Results indicate that the biodegradable flax fiber composites impregnated with WPCB filler can be utilized for many engineering and domestic applications.