PRODUCTION OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS USING HYBRID BIO-NANOPARTICLES IN GUM ARABIC/BANANA PSEUDOSTEM SAP MATRIX FOR PRODUCTION OF AUTOMOBILE BODY PARTS

This study investigates the development of a bio-based composite for automotive body parts, utilizing nanoparticles derived from banana pseudostem fiber (BPF) and rice husk ash (RHA) using gum Arabic/banana pseudostem sap as matrix. Characterization of the nanoparticles through X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction confirmed BPF was primarily hanksite (72.9%) while RHA was predominantly silica (78.0%), with Dynamic Light Scattering revealing a narrow size distribution (Z-Average of 49.44nm and 34.66nm, respectively). The fabricated composites exhibited superior mechanical properties, with a tensile strength of 2.5 N/mm2 (control: 2.0 N/mm2) , flexural strength of 1.9 N/mm² (90% higher than the control of 1.0 N/mm2) and a significantly enhanced hardness value of 591 N/mm², attributed to effective reinforcement and stress distribution of the nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed thermal stability up to 61.17°C, while water absorption decreased with reduced fiber content. These findings demonstrate the strong potential of this novel, sustainable composite to meet the performance criteria for both automotive parts and headliner components, valorizing agricultural waste as high-value engineering materials through waste to wealth utilisation