Singh, V.K.Verma, Akarsh2018-07-092018-07-092016-07http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810058504Natural fibers reinforced composites are applying themselves in almost every engineering field because of their cost effectiveness and biodegradable behaviour. One such god gifted natural fiber that is lacking the researchers consideration is the human hair. Human hair is categorised as a nano-composite natural fiber enclosing immaculate microstructures in it. An important aspect is that a single strand of human hair can withstand a load of 100 - 150 grams. Adding to this, human hair is elastic and it is capable of regaining its original position on removal of the deformation load. But three to four tons of human hair fibers are wasted in India annually; thus posing an environmental challenge. Therefore, we have tried to utilize this fiber in the field of material science. This work reveals the systematic methodology of fabrication and evaluation of diverse properties of the epoxy based human hair reinforced composites. After applying the curing process, epoxy resin - human hair composites, with varying human hair weight percentages (5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9% & 10%) were put to investigation. In addition, the surfaces of human hairs were treated with potassium hydroxide to enhance its bonding properties. The fabricated samples were firstly examined on the basis of physical tests which consisted of the density and water absorption tests. The cured epoxy composite with 7 weight % human hair fiber content was confirmed to be the best of all compositions under this scrutiny which was authenticated by the micro-structural and mechanical tests. Microstructural tests included the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) tests; mechanical tests comprised of the tensile, compression, flexural, hardness and impact tests. Finally, the thermal tests were also done which involved the Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and flame retardant tests.ennullThesis