Waste nylon fishing net fiber incorporated natural rubber composites as a remedy for waste reusing into a value‐added material

This study focuses on reusing the waste fishing nets with natural rubber (NR) to create a value‐added composite material. WNF fibers at different loadings (2, 4, and 6 phr) and lengths (2, 3, 5, and 7 mm) were investigated for a general tire formulation. The anisotropic nature of WNF was evident in tear strength, with optimal results for 2 mm, 2 phr fiber loading. It displayed 15.87% improvement longitudinally compared with the control. Further, it displayed improved 5.55% hardness, whereas resilience, abrasion volume loss, and tensile strength were decreased. In the second stage, these fibers treated with KOH (2%, 6%, and 10%) with the expectation of enhancing the mechanical properties. The 2% KOH‐treated sample presented a significant escalation in hardness (+12.50%), resilience (+6.25%), abrasion volume loss (+3.63%), tear strength (+17.23%), and tensile strength (+8.20%) as of the control. Partial replacement of carbon black (CB) with 2% KOH treated 2 mm 2 phr WNF was evaluated. A 9% of CB in rubber compound was easily supersede by WNF. Our findings indicated that WNF fibers could be reuse as a filler in rubber composite where special property enhancements are advantageous in tire technology.