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Banana fiber/epoxy composites are promising bio-based laminates, but their structural use is limited by moisture uptake and weak fiber-matrix interfaces. Sesbania aculeata (SA), an underutilized natural fiber with higher stiffness and lower moisture affinity, offers a potential route to overcome these limitations; however, the optimal performance window of banana-SA hybrid ratios remains insufficiently quantified. In this study, unidirectional epoxy laminates containing 30 wt% total fiber were fabricated by hand lay-up at five banana/SA ratios (100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 0/100) and evaluated through tensile, flexural, impact, hardness, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and 120 h water absorption tests. Mechanical performance improved systematically with increasing SA content. The optimal hybrid (25B:75SA) achieved a tensile modulus of 3.6 GPa, tensile strength of 42.2 MPa, flexural strength of 283.76 MPa, impact strength of 25.12 kJ/m², and hardness of 72.40 Shore D, while exhibiting the lowest water uptake (11.5 % at 120 h, compared to 17.6 % for banana-only composites). Fully SA-reinforced laminates reached maximum tensile strength (42.8 MPa), flexural modulus (8.21 GPa), and impact strength (27.75 kJ/m²). SEM analysis revealed reduced interfacial debonding and increased fiber fracture in SA-rich laminates, confirming improved fiber-matrix adhesion. These results demonstrate that SA-rich banana/SA hybrids offer significantly enhanced strength, toughness, and moisture resistance, making them promising sustainable candidates for lightweight semi-structural composite applications.
Dev et al. (Sun,) studied this question.