This decade has observed an upsurge in the eco-friendly materials because of the development of composites using natural fibers. These composites are made from renewable resources and are gaining popularity for their high performance in engineering applications. Industries are increasingly interested in using materials that are sustainable and resource-efficient. This research proposes a new innovative hybrid composite developed using coir and kenaf fibers, carbon nanotubes acting as a nanofiller, and a matrix made up of epoxy resin, detailing how they are fabricated, tested, and optimized based on different weight percentages. The weight percentages considered for CNT nanoparticles are 0, 1, 2, and 3 wt.%, coir, and kenaf fibers are considered in weight percentages of 12, 13, 14, and 15, whereas thickness is regarded as 2,3,4 and 5 mm. This research evaluates the mechanical features of this hybrid composite fabricated using a vacuum bag molding process. The different composite samples are tested using mechanical tests and subsequently optimized using the design of experiment (i.e., Taguchi method) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) method to arbitrate the best weight percent combination of the innovative hybrid composite. On the basis of the optimization results, the best composite sample obtained includes, 3 wt% of CNT, 15 wt% of kenaf, 15 wt% of Coir, and 4mm thickness of the sample, as it yields the highest tensile modulus and strength among all the hybrid composite samples. The outcomes from the research indicate that the hybridization of kenaf fibers into coir fibers, along with CNTs as fillers in the hybrid composite has enhanced the overall tensile strength, and flexural strength of the hybrid composite in comparison to the coir composite and kenaf composite alone, depicting the superiority of natural fiber hybrid composite over synthetic fiber hybrid composite.

In the current decade, a number of industries have moved their attention towards emerging sustainable technologies in order to better support socio-economic and environmental considerations. The present research investigates a unique hybrid composite developed by the amalgamation of natural kenaf-coir fibers, with resin of epoxy, incorporated with titanium carbide (TiC) nanoparticles. This study also presents the development process involved in manufacturing the composites, along with mechanical testing and optimization of these composite samples. The nanofillers of TiC are utilized in wt. percentages of 0%, 3%, 4%, and 5%, while coir and kenaf fibers are incorporated at 0%, 3%, 4%, and 5% by weight, and the thickness of the samples is varied at 2, 3, 4, and 5mm. The mechanical attributes of composites are evaluated using a vacuum bag molding process, with subsequent testing and optimization performed through Taguchi and ANOVA analysis to discover the optimal sample combination. The findings indicate that the most effective composite formulation includes 4% TiC, 5% kenaf, 5% coir, and a thickness of 3 mm, which provides the highest tensile modulus and strength among all tested samples. The integration of kenaf fibers with coir fibers and TiCs as fillers significantly improves the tensile and flexural attributes of the hybrid composite in contrast to composites made with coir or kenaf fibers alone.

The increasing demand for good and improved polymeric composites has led to a surge in the number of researches on hybrid composites, strengthened and enforced with the natural fibres. This paper mainly analyses and presents the attributes of hybrid composites made from natural fibres and carbon nano-tube (CNT) nanoparticles. A novel hybrid composite considered in this research includes kenaf and coir fibres with CNT nanoparticles embedded in an epoxy matrix. The proposed hybrid nanocomposite’s elastic features are calculated by using different analytical models like Chamis, Mori-Tanaka, Nielson elastic models etc and also with the help of Representative Volume Element Analysis (RVE). The content of fibre volume is varied in four different samples and it is found that upon varying the content of fibre volume, the mechanical properties like longitudinal modulus and transverse modulus got affected. The results evaluated from different analytical models are observed to be in good agreement with each other and also with the results of RVE analysis.