Influence of EPO and graphene nanofillers on mechanical behavior of flax fiber reinforced PLA biocomposite

Biodegradable materials are the need for the hour and have no exemption for the automotive industry. The proposed work aims to develop a biodegradable green composite using Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) as the polymeric matrix, flax fiber fabric as reinforcement, Epoxidized Palm Oil (EPO) as a plasticizer, and graphene powder as nano fillers. Using the hot compression technique, the solvent-cast composites with 5% EPO and 0.5% graphene nano fillers are fabricated and tested for mechanical strength to suit automobile applications. Tensile, flexural, impact tests and inter laminar shear strength analysis were performed and compared with the composite laminates made of PLA, PLA-EPO, and PLA-EPO-Graphene. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the surface morphology at the rupture part of the tensile samples.