Preparation and characterization of snake plant fiber reinforced composite: A sustainable utilization of biowaste

Abstract

Natural fibers are one of the most attractive materials in biocomposites due to their potential for sustainability. This study aims to prepare sustainable composite materials using fibers from Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant) and to investigate their mechanical, morphological, and water absorption properties. The composite was prepared with epoxy resin through a manual hand lay‐up process, maintaining standard parameters with changeable reinforcement (10%, 20%, and 30%). The mechanical properties (tensile, impact, and flexural strength), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and water absorbency of the composites were evaluated. The result showed that the tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact resistance of the composites are 6.99 MPa, 10.77 MPa, and 14 J, respectively, for 30% fiber components, which are significantly higher than other composite materials. The SEM analysis showed a strong interfacial bond between the snake plant fiber and the epoxy resin. The FTIR analysis revealed a reduction in hemicellulose and lignin and an improvement in the interfacial adhesion between snake plant fiber and epoxy resin. The composites also demonstrated time‐dependent increases in water absorption, with the sample containing 30% fiber components showing the best absorbency performance at 0.88%.Highlights A study is being conducted on the effective and sustainable use of biowaste. The composite materials loaded with 30% fibers had significantly high tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact resistance. The SEM analysis of snake plant fiber‐reinforced polymer composite showed a strong interfacial bond between fiber and epoxy resin. The FTIR analysis of the composite revealed the reduction of hemicellulose and lignin. The use of non‐renewable materials is reduced, and eco‐friendliness is promoted.

Extraction and characterization of fiber from the flower stalk of Sansevieria cylindrica

“…This can be seen in the case of, e.g., jute, where the diameter of the thinnest fibers does not go below 40–80 microns. However, also fibers that have no particular textile applications, such as borassus, were prepared with limited diameter reduction (200–290 microns) (Mishfa et al 2023), which might be detrimental for obtaining a sufficient aspect ratio (length/diameter) that will allow application of the fibers as short randomly oriented fibers in a composite. The requisite of having a small diameter excludes most fibers obtained from bark, where the cellular structure is normally thicker (Suriyaprakash et al 2023).…”