Influence of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on the Properties of Banyan Fiber/Epoxy Composites for Biomedical Applications

Influence of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on the Properties of Banyan Fiber/Epoxy Composites for Biomedical Applications M. K. Muniyasamy M. Dinesh Kumar Basanth Babu K. Mohanram K. Ramesh R. Muraliraja A. Geetha Selvarani

This study examines the impact of zinc oxide nano particles (n-ZnO) on the mechanical, water absorption (WA) and morphological characteristics of banyan fibre (BF)-reinforced epoxy composite intended of the biomedical uses. The composites were prepared by hand layup procedure with varied weight percentages of n-ZnO (2%, 4%, and 6%) and BF concentrations (6%, 12%, and 18%). The study shows that the incorporation of up to 4 wt% n-ZnO increases tensile strength by 58.97%, achieving its maximum at this concentration. The flexural strength increases by 30.50% with 4 wt% n-ZnO, whilst the impact strength attains its maximum increase of 59.57% with 6 wt% n-ZnO. Water absorption measures exhibit a decline with higher n-ZnO content and prolonged exposure duration, indicating improved water resistance. The uniform distribution of n-ZnO, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, causes improved water resistance and mechanical properties. Response surface methodology and Taguchi optimization evaluations provide additional evidence for the experimental findings and demonstrate that n-ZnO can enhance natural fiber-reinforced composites. This work illustrates that n-ZnO serves as an efficient filler to enhance mechanical properties and moister resistance in eco-friendly composite materials.
09 30 2025 09 30 2025 150 162 10.13074/jent.crossmark.policy Yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 10.13074/jent.2025.09.2521568 https://nanoient.org/journals/index.php/jent/article/view/2270 https://nanoient.org/journals/index.php/jent/article/download/2270/795