In this work, chemically treated coconut fibres were used to reinforce Homopolymer Polypropylene ... more In this work, chemically treated coconut fibres were used to reinforce Homopolymer Polypropylene in order to ascertain the effect of the treatments on the mechanical and water absorption properties of the composites produced. Coconut fibre was first extracted from its husk by soaking it in water and was dried before it was cut into 10 mm lengths. It was then chemically treated in alkali solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) in a shaker water bath. The treated coconut fibres were used as reinforcements in polypropylene matrix to produce composites of varied fibre weight contents; 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt.%. Tensile and flexural properties were investigated using universal testing machine while water absorption test was carried out on the samples for 7 days. It was observed from the results that, NaOH treated samples gave the best tensile properties while KOH treated samples gave the best flexural and water repellent properties.
Low-density polyethylene is a vastly used engineering material owing to its low cost, high formab... more Low-density polyethylene is a vastly used engineering material owing to its low cost, high formability, recyclability, relative availability and the possibility of improving its properties when reinforced/filled with other materials. However, when filled with some inorganic particulates, increase in the population of the particulates leads to increased hydrophilicity in the material and a weakened mechanical bonding energy between the fillers and the matrix material overtime. This study has demonstrated that optimum combination of mechanical and hydrophilic properties of low-density polyethylene for water-based applications can be achieved by filling its matrix with 1 – 3 volume % of 0.5 μm particulates of TiO2. The composites used in this study were developed by compression moulding technique and studied via scanning electron microscopy, tensile, flexural and water absorption tests.
In this research, the abrasion, mechanical and water absorption properties of treated and untreat... more In this research, the abrasion, mechanical and water absorption properties of treated and untreated short and randomly dispersed cow hair fiber reinforced polyester composites were studied. This was carried out in order to investigate the influence of chemical treatment on the cow hair fiber and other parameters on the developed composite materials. Polyester resin reinforced with alkaline treated and untreated cow hair fibers was produced by hand lay-up technique in predetermined proportions. Abrasion, mechanical as well as water absorption tests were carried out on the developed composites. The results showed that the composite samples reinforced with untreated cow hair fiber showed better enhancement in all the properties than those reinforced with treated cow hair fiber. Optimum tensile properties were obtained with 15 wt.% while 20 wt.% gave the optimum flexural properties. Samples reinforced with 10-15wt. % untreated cow hair fibers had the highest abrasion resistance, while t...
This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements o... more This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements on the mechanical, wear, and selected physical properties of epoxy-based composites. The exploitation of these properties was aimed at assessing the suitability and efficiency of the developed bio-composites for adhesive biomedical applications. Snail shell wastes were sourced and processed to obtain (HAp) particles of ˂20 μm. The bio-derived hydroxyapatite-based epoxy composites were produced using the stir-cast method by mixing the hydroxyapatite with the epoxy resin and hardener before pouring into the moulds where they are allowed to cure. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of the snail shell hydroxyapatite particles were carried out while mechanical, wear, and physical properties of the developed composites were evaluated. SEM images of the fracture surfaces were also examined. The results showed that enhancements occurred from the addition of snail shell-derived HAp to epoxy resin in the developed composites. The results revealed that most of the properties gave their optimum values when 15 wt.% reinforcement was used. At this weight fraction, optimum values were obtained which include 43 MPa for maximum flexural strength, 40HS for hardness, 40 J for impact, 0.35 W/mK for thermal conductivity, and 0.07 for wear index.
Journal of Engineering and Engineering Technology, 2022
Research into better and more improved biomaterials is at the forefront of modern biomedicine. A ... more Research into better and more improved biomaterials is at the forefront of modern biomedicine. A calcium phosphate compound known as Hydroxyapatite is one of the most bioactive and biocompatible osteoconductive ceramic materials currently known to man. It occurs naturally in the bones, teeth, and shells of some animals and the leaves, and stalks of some plants. It can also be synthesized artificially. Eggshells are very prominent sources of Hydroxyapatite and currently constitute waste, and environmental pollution due to ineffective, wrong, and incorrect disposal. In this research, two modified variants of the wet chemical precipitation method were used to produce hydroxyapatite from chicken eggshells gotten from the same source. The obtained samples were then characterized using XRD and SEM. The results of the characterization were analyzed to determine the most efficient, cost-effective, and less tedious method of production. It was discovered that although the orthophosphoric acid-based wet precipitation method was more efficient in producing phase pure hydroxyapatite, the nitric acidbased wet chemical precipitation method was found to be better than the orthophosphoric-based wet chemical precipitation method in terms of particle size, agglomeration, elemental analysis, and other observed properties.
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 2022
This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements o... more This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements on the mechanical, wear, and selected physical properties of epoxy-based composites. The exploitation of these properties was aimed at assessing the suitability and efficiency of the developed bio-composites for adhesive biomedical applications. Snail shell wastes were sourced and processed to obtain (HAp) particles of ˂20 μm. The bio-derived hydroxyapatite-based epoxy composites were produced using the stir-cast method by mixing the hydroxyapatite with the epoxy resin and hardener before pouring into the moulds where they are allowed to cure. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of the snail shell hydroxyapatite particles were carried out while mechanical, wear, and physical properties of the developed composites were evaluated. SEM images of the fracture surfaces were also examined. The results showed that enhancements occurred from the addition of snail shell-derived HAp to epoxy resin in the developed composites. The results revealed that most of the properties gave their optimum values when 15 wt.% reinforcement was used. At this weight fraction, optimum values were obtained which include 43 MPa for maximum flexural strength, 40HS for hardness, 40 J for impact, 0.35 W/mK for thermal conductivity, and 0.07 for wear index.
Comparative study of the reinforcement efficiency of hardwood and softwood dusts on the mechanica... more Comparative study of the reinforcement efficiency of hardwood and softwood dusts on the mechanical properties of polyester composites was investigated. Chemical treatment of the wood saw dusts were also carried out in order to further consider the possibility of surface modification of the saw dusts. Mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla), a species of hard wood and Araba (Ceiba Pentandra), a species of soft wood saw dusts were selected and treated with a mixture of 1.0 M of NaOH and HCl at elevated temperature of 70°C for 3 hours followed by washing with distilled water and sieving before sun drying. The dried wood saw dusts was further oven dried at 60°C for 1 hour and pulverized with laboratory ball mill before being sieved with a mesh of grain size of 150 μm. The composites were produced by mixing the particulate fibres and the polyester matrix in predetermined proportions. Mechanical tests were carried out on the cured samples in order to determine properties such as: tensile, hardne...
The reinforcing fibers are the primary load carriers of material, with the matrix component trans... more The reinforcing fibers are the primary load carriers of material, with the matrix component transferring the load from fiber. Reinforcement of the matrix material may be achieved in a variety of ways. . Reinforcement may also be in the form of particles. The objective of this is to investigate the properties of particulate snail shell reinforced polyester matrix composites. The snail shell particulate was produced by calcination in the furnace and pulverized with laboratory ball mill. The powder was sieved using sieve shaker. The composites were developed using predetermined proportions of the particulate in an open mould production process. For each of the developed composites, the mixture was missed thoroughly until homogenous paste was obtained and poured into the mould. The cured sample was stripped from the mould and was allowed to cure. Mechanical (tensile, impact) and water absorption tests were carried out on the samples from where it was observed that the properties of the ...
Pulverised stem fibres of the natural sponge plant, SP, (Acanthus montanus) and stranded coconut ... more Pulverised stem fibres of the natural sponge plant, SP, (Acanthus montanus) and stranded coconut fibre, CF, (Cocos nucifera) from the coir tree were used as reinforcements for thin cement sheets in this research work. The mixture of cement and pulverised waste paper, which formed the matrix, was maintained constant while the fibre mass concentration of both fibres were varied. The slurry formed by adding water to the mixture of the matrix materials and the reinforcement fibres, was poured into rectangular mould and consequently pressed to eject excess water. De-moulded samples were allowed to cure in the laboratory for twenty-eight days before flexural and compressive tests were carried out. The analysis of the experimental results established that sample coded as S4, with 30% CF and 70% SP, showed the most promising result. This implied that particulate reinforcement in cement matrix composite contributed to higher and improved flexural load bearing capacity and ductility when utilised in a higher proportion than long fibres.
Abstract
This research has investigated the influence of H2O2, KOH and NaOH treatments on the phy... more Abstract This research has investigated the influence of H2O2, KOH and NaOH treatments on the physicochemical and tensile properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications. The chemical treatments for this present study were prepared with predetermined molar concentrations of 0.10, 0.15 and 0.2 M respectively. The physicochemical properties of the cow hair fibres were established using proximate analysis and the tensile properties of the fibres were evaluated with the aid of an Instron universal testing machine. From the results of the proximate analysis, it was observed that, with increase in the concentration of the H2O2 treatment there was increase in the crude protein and moisture contents and decrease in the ash content of the fibres. However, the KOH and NaOH treatments showed an opposite trend. Also, from the tensile test results, it was observed that the chemical treatments aided the enhancement of ultimate tensile and yield strengths of the fibres in comparison with the untreated fibres while tensile strain at break was enhanced by 0.1 and 0.2 M of KOH as well as 0.2 M of NaOH treatments. The results of this research have shown that proper chemical treatment can enhance the properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications.
In this work, chemically treated coconut fibres were used to reinforce Homopolymer Polypropylene ... more In this work, chemically treated coconut fibres were used to reinforce Homopolymer Polypropylene in order to ascertain the effect of the treatments on the mechanical and water absorption properties of the composites produced. Coconut fibre was first extracted from its husk by soaking it in water and was dried before it was cut into 10 mm lengths. It was then chemically treated in alkali solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) in a shaker water bath. The treated coconut fibres were used as reinforcements in polypropylene matrix to produce composites of varied fibre weight contents; 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt.%. Tensile and flexural properties were investigated using universal testing machine while water absorption test was carried out on the samples for 7 days. It was observed from the results that, NaOH treated samples gave the best tensile properties while KOH treated samples gave the best flexural and water repellent properties.
Low-density polyethylene is a vastly used engineering material owing to its low cost, high formab... more Low-density polyethylene is a vastly used engineering material owing to its low cost, high formability, recyclability, relative availability and the possibility of improving its properties when reinforced/filled with other materials. However, when filled with some inorganic particulates, increase in the population of the particulates leads to increased hydrophilicity in the material and a weakened mechanical bonding energy between the fillers and the matrix material overtime. This study has demonstrated that optimum combination of mechanical and hydrophilic properties of low-density polyethylene for water-based applications can be achieved by filling its matrix with 1 – 3 volume % of 0.5 μm particulates of TiO2. The composites used in this study were developed by compression moulding technique and studied via scanning electron microscopy, tensile, flexural and water absorption tests.
In this research, the abrasion, mechanical and water absorption properties of treated and untreat... more In this research, the abrasion, mechanical and water absorption properties of treated and untreated short and randomly dispersed cow hair fiber reinforced polyester composites were studied. This was carried out in order to investigate the influence of chemical treatment on the cow hair fiber and other parameters on the developed composite materials. Polyester resin reinforced with alkaline treated and untreated cow hair fibers was produced by hand lay-up technique in predetermined proportions. Abrasion, mechanical as well as water absorption tests were carried out on the developed composites. The results showed that the composite samples reinforced with untreated cow hair fiber showed better enhancement in all the properties than those reinforced with treated cow hair fiber. Optimum tensile properties were obtained with 15 wt.% while 20 wt.% gave the optimum flexural properties. Samples reinforced with 10-15wt. % untreated cow hair fibers had the highest abrasion resistance, while t...
This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements o... more This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements on the mechanical, wear, and selected physical properties of epoxy-based composites. The exploitation of these properties was aimed at assessing the suitability and efficiency of the developed bio-composites for adhesive biomedical applications. Snail shell wastes were sourced and processed to obtain (HAp) particles of ˂20 μm. The bio-derived hydroxyapatite-based epoxy composites were produced using the stir-cast method by mixing the hydroxyapatite with the epoxy resin and hardener before pouring into the moulds where they are allowed to cure. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of the snail shell hydroxyapatite particles were carried out while mechanical, wear, and physical properties of the developed composites were evaluated. SEM images of the fracture surfaces were also examined. The results showed that enhancements occurred from the addition of snail shell-derived HAp to epoxy resin in the developed composites. The results revealed that most of the properties gave their optimum values when 15 wt.% reinforcement was used. At this weight fraction, optimum values were obtained which include 43 MPa for maximum flexural strength, 40HS for hardness, 40 J for impact, 0.35 W/mK for thermal conductivity, and 0.07 for wear index.
Journal of Engineering and Engineering Technology, 2022
Research into better and more improved biomaterials is at the forefront of modern biomedicine. A ... more Research into better and more improved biomaterials is at the forefront of modern biomedicine. A calcium phosphate compound known as Hydroxyapatite is one of the most bioactive and biocompatible osteoconductive ceramic materials currently known to man. It occurs naturally in the bones, teeth, and shells of some animals and the leaves, and stalks of some plants. It can also be synthesized artificially. Eggshells are very prominent sources of Hydroxyapatite and currently constitute waste, and environmental pollution due to ineffective, wrong, and incorrect disposal. In this research, two modified variants of the wet chemical precipitation method were used to produce hydroxyapatite from chicken eggshells gotten from the same source. The obtained samples were then characterized using XRD and SEM. The results of the characterization were analyzed to determine the most efficient, cost-effective, and less tedious method of production. It was discovered that although the orthophosphoric acid-based wet precipitation method was more efficient in producing phase pure hydroxyapatite, the nitric acidbased wet chemical precipitation method was found to be better than the orthophosphoric-based wet chemical precipitation method in terms of particle size, agglomeration, elemental analysis, and other observed properties.
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 2022
This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements o... more This research investigates the effects of snail shell-based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforcements on the mechanical, wear, and selected physical properties of epoxy-based composites. The exploitation of these properties was aimed at assessing the suitability and efficiency of the developed bio-composites for adhesive biomedical applications. Snail shell wastes were sourced and processed to obtain (HAp) particles of ˂20 μm. The bio-derived hydroxyapatite-based epoxy composites were produced using the stir-cast method by mixing the hydroxyapatite with the epoxy resin and hardener before pouring into the moulds where they are allowed to cure. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of the snail shell hydroxyapatite particles were carried out while mechanical, wear, and physical properties of the developed composites were evaluated. SEM images of the fracture surfaces were also examined. The results showed that enhancements occurred from the addition of snail shell-derived HAp to epoxy resin in the developed composites. The results revealed that most of the properties gave their optimum values when 15 wt.% reinforcement was used. At this weight fraction, optimum values were obtained which include 43 MPa for maximum flexural strength, 40HS for hardness, 40 J for impact, 0.35 W/mK for thermal conductivity, and 0.07 for wear index.
Comparative study of the reinforcement efficiency of hardwood and softwood dusts on the mechanica... more Comparative study of the reinforcement efficiency of hardwood and softwood dusts on the mechanical properties of polyester composites was investigated. Chemical treatment of the wood saw dusts were also carried out in order to further consider the possibility of surface modification of the saw dusts. Mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla), a species of hard wood and Araba (Ceiba Pentandra), a species of soft wood saw dusts were selected and treated with a mixture of 1.0 M of NaOH and HCl at elevated temperature of 70°C for 3 hours followed by washing with distilled water and sieving before sun drying. The dried wood saw dusts was further oven dried at 60°C for 1 hour and pulverized with laboratory ball mill before being sieved with a mesh of grain size of 150 μm. The composites were produced by mixing the particulate fibres and the polyester matrix in predetermined proportions. Mechanical tests were carried out on the cured samples in order to determine properties such as: tensile, hardne...
The reinforcing fibers are the primary load carriers of material, with the matrix component trans... more The reinforcing fibers are the primary load carriers of material, with the matrix component transferring the load from fiber. Reinforcement of the matrix material may be achieved in a variety of ways. . Reinforcement may also be in the form of particles. The objective of this is to investigate the properties of particulate snail shell reinforced polyester matrix composites. The snail shell particulate was produced by calcination in the furnace and pulverized with laboratory ball mill. The powder was sieved using sieve shaker. The composites were developed using predetermined proportions of the particulate in an open mould production process. For each of the developed composites, the mixture was missed thoroughly until homogenous paste was obtained and poured into the mould. The cured sample was stripped from the mould and was allowed to cure. Mechanical (tensile, impact) and water absorption tests were carried out on the samples from where it was observed that the properties of the ...
Pulverised stem fibres of the natural sponge plant, SP, (Acanthus montanus) and stranded coconut ... more Pulverised stem fibres of the natural sponge plant, SP, (Acanthus montanus) and stranded coconut fibre, CF, (Cocos nucifera) from the coir tree were used as reinforcements for thin cement sheets in this research work. The mixture of cement and pulverised waste paper, which formed the matrix, was maintained constant while the fibre mass concentration of both fibres were varied. The slurry formed by adding water to the mixture of the matrix materials and the reinforcement fibres, was poured into rectangular mould and consequently pressed to eject excess water. De-moulded samples were allowed to cure in the laboratory for twenty-eight days before flexural and compressive tests were carried out. The analysis of the experimental results established that sample coded as S4, with 30% CF and 70% SP, showed the most promising result. This implied that particulate reinforcement in cement matrix composite contributed to higher and improved flexural load bearing capacity and ductility when utilised in a higher proportion than long fibres.
Abstract
This research has investigated the influence of H2O2, KOH and NaOH treatments on the phy... more Abstract This research has investigated the influence of H2O2, KOH and NaOH treatments on the physicochemical and tensile properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications. The chemical treatments for this present study were prepared with predetermined molar concentrations of 0.10, 0.15 and 0.2 M respectively. The physicochemical properties of the cow hair fibres were established using proximate analysis and the tensile properties of the fibres were evaluated with the aid of an Instron universal testing machine. From the results of the proximate analysis, it was observed that, with increase in the concentration of the H2O2 treatment there was increase in the crude protein and moisture contents and decrease in the ash content of the fibres. However, the KOH and NaOH treatments showed an opposite trend. Also, from the tensile test results, it was observed that the chemical treatments aided the enhancement of ultimate tensile and yield strengths of the fibres in comparison with the untreated fibres while tensile strain at break was enhanced by 0.1 and 0.2 M of KOH as well as 0.2 M of NaOH treatments. The results of this research have shown that proper chemical treatment can enhance the properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications.
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This research has investigated the influence of H2O2, KOH and NaOH treatments on the physicochemical and tensile properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications. The chemical treatments for this present study were prepared with predetermined molar concentrations of 0.10, 0.15 and 0.2 M respectively. The physicochemical properties of the cow hair fibres were established using proximate analysis and the tensile properties of the fibres were evaluated with the aid of an Instron universal testing machine. From the results of the proximate analysis, it was observed that, with increase in the
concentration of the H2O2 treatment there was increase in the crude protein and moisture contents and decrease in the ash
content of the fibres. However, the KOH and NaOH treatments showed an opposite trend. Also, from the tensile test results, it
was observed that the chemical treatments aided the enhancement of ultimate tensile and yield strengths of the fibres in comparison with the untreated fibres while tensile strain at break was enhanced by 0.1 and 0.2 M of KOH as well as 0.2 M of NaOH treatments. The results of this research have shown that proper chemical treatment can enhance the properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications.
This research has investigated the influence of H2O2, KOH and NaOH treatments on the physicochemical and tensile properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications. The chemical treatments for this present study were prepared with predetermined molar concentrations of 0.10, 0.15 and 0.2 M respectively. The physicochemical properties of the cow hair fibres were established using proximate analysis and the tensile properties of the fibres were evaluated with the aid of an Instron universal testing machine. From the results of the proximate analysis, it was observed that, with increase in the
concentration of the H2O2 treatment there was increase in the crude protein and moisture contents and decrease in the ash
content of the fibres. However, the KOH and NaOH treatments showed an opposite trend. Also, from the tensile test results, it
was observed that the chemical treatments aided the enhancement of ultimate tensile and yield strengths of the fibres in comparison with the untreated fibres while tensile strain at break was enhanced by 0.1 and 0.2 M of KOH as well as 0.2 M of NaOH treatments. The results of this research have shown that proper chemical treatment can enhance the properties of cow hair fibres for composites applications.