Formulation of nanocellulosic fibres and particle fillers, and their mono and hybrid reinforced polymer composites

Finite element analysis was used to formulate novel models of both mono and hybrid nanocomposites, and, also to predict their flexural properties. This study also formulated the optimal combination mix ratio of fibres and matrix of the flexural properties for use in different applications. The predicted properties were verified using the experimental method. This study found that the flexural properties of all the composites depicted an increase with fibre additions up to a certain optimum point, beyond which they began to fall gradually with further fibre additions. There was also evidence of transverse matrix fracture in rice husk nanoparticle-reinforced epoxy resin composites' flexural stiffness graphs. Moreover, it was found that the increases in flexural properties of mono composites were about two times lower in magnitude than hybrid composites. With regards to the formulation of optimal combination mix ratio of fibres and matrices for different applications, it was noted that the optimal combination mix ratio of fibres to the matrix for applications where all the flexural properties were maximized was 4:1. Moreover, the optimal combination mix ratio of fibres to the matrix for applications where the flexural properties were minimized was 1:2. Furthermore, the optimal combination mix ratio of fibres to the matrix for applications with a target of 10 MPa flexural strength properties and 10 GPa for flexural stiffness properties was 2:3.