Characterization of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Rice Straw Particles and Furcraea foetida Fiber Reinforced Hybrid Composite

The biodegradable characteristics and abundant availability of the fiber sources have gained the attention of various industries to produce natural fiber-based composites. As a sustainable alternative to the non-biodegradable fiber-based products, the natural composites provide a viable solution to reduce the environmental pollution caused by synthetic materials. This study developed rice straw particle (RSp) and Furcraea foetida (FF) fiber reinforced hybrid composite and investigated its physical and mechanical properties. The addition of 15 wt.% of RSp reduced the density of the test samples by 41.87% and its water absorption (WA) increased with the increase in fiber concentration. The composite with 5 wt.% and 15 wt.% of RSp showed maximum tensile strength (& sigma;(t): 29.45 MPa) and modulus (& sigma;(tm): 3.67 GPa), respectively. At 15 wt.% of RSp, the maximum flexural strength (& sigma;(f): 43.12 MPa) and modulus (& sigma;(fm): 2.09 GPa) was achieved and at 10 wt.% of RSp showed the highest impact strength (& sigma;(i): 101.01 J/m). The & sigma;(t) (40.21%) and & sigma;(f) (7.76%) of the RSp reinforced composite were improved by the hybridization of FF (20 wt.%) fiber reinforcement.