Viscoelasticity and impact behaviour of green epoxy bio-composites made of date palm leaflets

Natural fibres can replace traditional synthetic fibre composites in applications for which sustainability is a critical aspect. Elghas date palm leaflets in their natural state and with handwoven fabric reinforcements-the latter from customary and regional carpet productions-are included into new bio-based composites that are produced and characterized in this work. The two classes of bio-composites have the same weight fraction in terms of reinforcement. The date palm leaflets reinforcements are dispersed in a green resin matrix. Biocomposites reinforced with leaflets tree have twice the static bending strength than those with leaflets fabric reinforcements. The viscoelastic behaviour of those bio-composites shows an opposite trend, with the laminates reinforced with leaflets fabric being the least sensitive. For an impact energy of 3 J, the strength of biocomposites with leaflets fabric is double than the analogous value shown by bio-composites with leaflets tree. The impact strength however increases by 4.7 times for lower impact energies of 1 J. The results shown here further demonstrate the possibility of developing bio-composites from agro-industrial products, waste, and local textile traditions for secondary structural applications.