Hemp fiber reinforced sustainable “green” composite production with epoxidized soybean oil

Abstract

Due to the rising environmental concerns, industry branches are pushed to research and invest sustainable materials and technologies. In this context, this study aimed to combine a sustainable fiber and matrix material to produce green composite. For this purpose, epoxidized soybean oil and hemp fiber were utilized for composite production. Sebacic acid and maleic anhydride were used as hardeners. Histidine and glycerol were applied as accelerator and starter, respectively. Mechanical performance of the composites was evaluated by tensile and impact tests. Hemp fiber reinforcement resulted in improvement on mechanical properties, up to 2.6 MPa tensile strength and 11.5 kJ/m2 impact strength. Thermal properties were determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses. The changes in molecular level after curing was traced with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements.