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

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.