Revolutionizing Polymer Composites: Boosting Mechanical Strength, Thermal Stability, Water Resistance, and Sound Absorption of Cissus Quadrangularis Stem Fibers with Nano Silica.

Conventional materials may only be suitable for some applications, owing to their limited specific properties. On the other hand, natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites can be very useful in a variety of applications. Cissus quadrangularis stem fibers (CQSF) reinforced with epoxy polymers exhibit impressive mechanical properties. Incorporating nano-silica further enhanced the tensile and flexural properties, with the maximum tensile strength reaching 118.18 MPa and a flexural strength of 132.66 MPa when 2 wt% nano silica is used. The maximum impact strength is achieved at 1.5 wt% nano silica incorporation and the hardness increase gradually with increasing nano silica content, reaching its maximum value at 2 wt%. The degradation temperature started at 320 °C, and the char yield increased with nano silica incorporation. An amorphous peak at 18.64° was identified, and the water absorption rate changed with the filler content. The acoustic properties and sound absorption coefficient of the CQSF nanocomposite containing 2 wt% SiO2 can be improved compared to neat CQSF/Epoxy (CQSF/E) in the low to high-frequency ranges. The fracture mechanism was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]