Potential Recycling of Brewed Tea Leaf (Camellia Sinensis) Waste as Natural Reinforcement in Unsaturated Polyester (UPE) Bio-Composite

Abstract

This study presents the preparation of a bio composite made from unsaturated polyester (UPE) matrix filled with brewed tea waste (TW) as natural fibre by applying compression moulding principle. Composite of different filler loading ranging from 0 wt.%, 10 wt.%, 20 wt.%, 30 wt.% and 40 wt.% were prepared. The microstructural characteristics and functional group as well as mechanical properties namely tensile and flexural test were investigated. Results show that the mechanical properties of bio-composites decreased as the weight percentage of tea waste content increased. The optimum tea waste content for the bio-composites was found to be 10 wt.% that shows the highest value of tensile and flexural strength which are 15.757 MPa and 24.417 MPa respectively. Surface morphology was evaluated by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and functional group identification was investigated by using Fourier Transformation Infra-red (FTIR) analysis.