Mechanical properties and water absorption characteristics of composites reinforced with cotton fibres recovered from textile waste

The primary aim of this research is to develop thermoset composites reinforced with cotton fibres extracted from textile waste. These composites are mainly targeted to replace timber in its application for furniture items and in some visible and non-visible automotive components. The pre-consumer cotton textile wastes such as cutting waste, in garment manufacturing, and defective fabrics were converted into the fibrous form called 'shoddy', using rag-tearing technique. The fibrous web of shoddy was produced using the carding machine. This web was used for developing thermoset composites as a reinforcement material. The thermoset composites with four different fibre volume fraction values, namely 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 were developed using compression moulding technique. The developed composites were characterised by mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical properties, thermal degradation behaviour and water absorption behaviour. The mechanical properties of the composites were found comparable with that of commercial wood. These composites can be used to develop a dashboard panel. The composites developed in this research have shown low water diffusion coefficient values as compared with pine, oak and linden wood.