title: Mechanical, morphological and structural properties of cellulose nanofibers reinforced epoxy composites.
abstract: Present study, deals about isolation and characterization of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from the Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp, fabrication by hand lay-up technique and characterization of fabricated epoxy nanocomposites at different filler loadings (0.5%, 0.75%, 1% by wt.). The effect of CNFs loading on mechanical (tensile, impact and flexural), morphological (scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope) and structural (XRD and FTIR) properties of epoxy composites were investigated. FTIR analysis confirms the introduction of CNFs into the epoxy matrix while no considerable change in the crystallinity and diffraction peaks of epoxy composites were observed by the XRD patterns. Additions of CNFs considerably enhance the mechanical properties of epoxy composites but a remarkable improvement is observed for 0.75% CNFs as compared to the rest epoxy nanocomposites. In addition, the electron micrographs revealed the perfect distribution and dispersion of CNFs in the epoxy matrix for the 0.75% CNFs/epoxy nanocomposites, while the existence of voids and agglomerations were observed beyond 0.75% CNFs filler loadings. Overall results analysis clearly revealed that the 0.75% CNFs filler loading is best and effective with respect to rest to enhance the mechanical and structural properties of the epoxy composites.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.affiliation: Surfactant Research Chair, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mohammad
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pervaiz
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: jawaid_md@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jawaid
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: O Y
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Alothman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sain
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D004853:Epoxy Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D004853:Epoxy Resins; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Cellulose nanofibers; Epoxy; Mechanical properties; Morphological properties; Nanocomposites; X-ray diffraction