Preparation and characterization of opuntia‐cladode fiber and citron peel biochar toughened epoxy biocomposite

Abstract In this research, citron peel biochar and opuntia‐cladode fibers (OCF) reinforced epoxy composites were fabricated and characterized for mechanical, wear, and electrical properties. The biochar was prepared from the waste peels of citron edible fruit whereas the opuntia fiber was from the cladode of the opuntia plant. The laminates were fabricated by hand layup process and evaluated in accordance with the ASTM standards. The results revealed that the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, impact toughness, hardness and adhesion strength were increased by 36.2%, 30.6%, 91.3%, 1.1%, and 5.3% for composite designation EC containing 30 vol% of OCF. Similarly, the addition of citron biochar of 2 vol% increased the load bearing and dielectric properties. However, the inclusion of 30 vol% of OCF on composite designation EC the sp. wear rate recorded 0.018 mm 3 /Nm. Similarly, the lowest coefficient of friction and sp. wear rate is observed to be 0.42 and 0.008 mm 3 /Nm for the composite with 2.0 vol% biochar. The ECO 4 composite designation represented a maximum dielectric constant and dielectric loss of about 7.4 and 1.1, respectively. The SEM fractography demonstrates that the silane‐treatment strengthened the fiber‐matrix interface and improved the interlocking mechanism. Such mechanically robust, wear‐resistant improved and electrically conductive composites could be utilized in applications such as industrial sectors, spacecraft, automobile parts, packaging industries, and electrical appliances.