Mechanical, thermal, and morphological characterization of biodegradable banana fiber reinforced epoxy composites modified with compatible fillers

With the growing need for eco-friendly and advanced materials, biodegradable composite materials have gained attention. In this study, biodegradable banana fiber reinforced epoxy composites were fabricated and further modified with compatible fillers, such as natural fillers (coconut shell powder), synthetic fillers (carbon nano powder) and metallic fillers (copper nano powder) for better performance. The developed composites were comprehensively evaluated for their mechanical, thermal and morphological characteristics. The mechanical evaluation showed a significant increase in tensile, flexural and impact strengths due to the addition of banana fiber and further improvement with the inclusion of fillers. Carbon nano powder proved to be a more effective filler, leading to the highest tensile and flexural strength as a result of enhanced load transfer and nanofiller interaction. The energy absorption and toughness of coconut shell powder improved the impact properties, whereas copper nano powder increased the hardness and stiffness of the composite system. Thermal degradation studies using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques showed improved thermal properties of the composites, including higher degradation temperature and residual mass of the filler-reinforced systems. Microscopic observations using scanning electron microscopy have shown better bonding, lower void content and uniform distribution of fillers in the epoxy. The findings suggest that banana fiber and compatible fillers can be used to engineer the properties of biodegradable composites for use in lightweight structural and sustainable engineering applications. This research demonstrates the promise of hybrid filler-reinforced natural fiber composites as environmentally friendly materials.