Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Silicon https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-022-02228-y ORIGINAL PAPER Preparation and Characterization of Amino‑Silanized Opuntia Cladode Fibre and Fumed Silica Toughened Epoxy Composite M. P. Sudeshkumar 1  · R. Ramadoss 2  · V. Jayaseelan 3  · S. Vijayananth 4 Received: 25 June 2022 / Accepted: 11 November 2022 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022 Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop and describe the mechanical, wear, and electrical characteristics of epoxy com- posites reinforced with opuntia cladode short fber (OCF) and fumed silica (FS). The primary objective of this study was to determine how the addition of silane treated fumed silica particle improves the load bearing and wear properties of novel opuntia cladode fber-epoxy composite. The cladode of the opuntia plant was used to create the opuntia fber, whereas fumed silica was purchased in its fnished form. The laminates were made using a manual layup method and tested as per ASTM specifcations. According to the end results the tensile strength, fexural strength, impact toughness, hardness, and adhesion strength were all found to rise by 35.2%, 31.4%, 91.4%, 1.3%, and 6.2%, respectively, for composite designation E0 having 30 vol.% of OCF. Similar improvements were seen in load bearing and dielectric characteristics after adding 2 vol. % of fumed silica. The sp. wear rate was measured at 0.0174 mm 3 /Nm after 30% OCF was added to the composite E0. The 2.0 vol.% fumed silica composite also has the lowest COF and sp. Wear rate, at 0.44 and 0.005 mm 3 /Nm, respectively. When calculating the maximum dielectric constant and dielectric loss, the N4 composite was found to have values of 6.8 and 1.4, respectively. The SEM fractography proves that the silane-treatment enhanced the dispersion of fumed silica in the matrix and reinforced the fber-matrix contact. These properties enhanced natural fbre composites could be used in transportation sector to aerospace and consumer electronic divisions where product size and weight is highly concern. Keywords Composites · Polymer · Silica · Fibre · Filler · Wear · Dielectric 1 Introduction Stronger, lighter, and, most signifcantly, less energy-inten- sive materials are needed in most technical applications, especially in the automobile and aerospace sectors, since they would minimize excessive fuel consumption and the associated carbon dioxide emissions [1]. In this connec- tion the natural fbers and fller particles are the basis for the innovative biomaterials being developed by scientists throughout the world [2]. Researchers from all around the world are focusing on biocomposites because of how ver- satile they are, how cheap they are, and how much money they save. New fber discovery as well as the acquisition and development of bio fllers [3] are now the primary areas of study. Since most of the fbers such as bagasse, jute, alo- evera, etc.… are readily available they are serving com- posite making process over a decade [4, 5]. However there are still new fbers are pop up in the line such as Opuntia fber. It has good mechanical and load bearing properties as other natural fbres has. Opuntia cladodes are thought to owe its mechanical qualities to a network of small fbers with a hierarchical, hexagonal reticular structure [6]. There are some related research were incepted recent days amid researchers since the opuntia fbers are sustainable and eco- friendly. In this way epoxy composites may be strengthened by nopal fbers from cacti, as described by Lahouaria et al. [7]. In this research, author used Cactus fbers and investi- gated the mechanical properties. Author confrmed that the * M. P. Sudeshkumar sudeshkumarmp@gmail.com 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shreenivasa Engineering College, Dharmapuri, India 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Easwari Engineering College, Chennai, India 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prathyusha Engineering College, Chennai, India 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vels Institute of Science Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai, India