Characterization of fire retardant properties of cow horn ash particles and thermal behavior of polyester/ Banana peduncle fibre /cow horn ash particle hybrid composites

Natural fibres thermally degrade and burn readily and their use has been restricted in applications where the heat and fire regulations are stringent. The need to enhance the fire resistance of natural fibres inspired the development of cow horn ash particles as a novel flame retardant additive for polyester/cow horn ash particles (CHAp)/Banana peduncle fibre (BPF) hybrid composites. The composites were produced by varying the ratios of CHA: BPF from 0:0, 2.5:2.5, 5:5, 7.5:7.5 and 10:0wt%. The thermal and fire properties were determined. The results obtained showed that the incorporation of CHAp played a crucial role in improving the thermal stability of the composites by acting as an effective physical barriers against thermal decomposition in the polymer composites. This work shows that at 7.5wt%CHAp: 7.5wt% composite delay the ignition time by 25, the end of burning time by 14.24% and reduced the total heat release rate by 9.07%. The research work has established that CHAp can be used to replace expensive and toxic organic and inorganic flame retarded polymer composites for structural application. Keywords: cow horn ash; polyester; fire retardancy; banana peduncle fibre. DOI: 10.7176/CPER/62-06 Publication date: February 29th 202