In this study, four plied jute, carbon, E-glass fabric-reinforced and their hybridized composites are manufactured. Nine composite laminates with different stacking sequences are manufactured by vacuum infusion technique. In order to understand the structure of the composites, fiber weight and fiber volume ratios in the laminate system are initially figured out. Furthermore, void fractions of samples are calculated by using theoretical and experimental densities of the composite samples to examine the impact of amount of fiber content on the void fraction. The effect of hybridizing jute fabric-reinforced polyester composite with E-glass fabric and carbon fabric and also the effect of stacking sequence of fabric layers on the mechanical properties (tensile strength, impact strength) of composite laminates are investigated. According to the outcomes of this investigation, it is realized that incorporating high impact resistant fibers to the outer layers of the composites leads to higher impact resistance, and placing high tensile strength fibers at the inner layers results in higher tensile strength at the hybrid composite laminates.

The aim of this paper is to develop a textile waste-based composite material with adequate mechanical, acoustical, and thermal properties for automotive or construction fields. For this purpose, three recycled nonwoven wastes including cotton, polyester, and cotton/polyester blend are employed and blended in epoxy resin. The manufacturing of the composite panels is performed by vacuum infusion technique. Mechanical, thermal and acoustical tests are conducted to characterize the performances of both nonwoven fabrics and composite panels. Theoretical Young’s moduli of different composites are calculated based on the rule of mixtures in two ways and compared with practical results. Results show that mechanical properties of the manufactured panels are significantly improved compared to pure resin without a notable change in the thermal behavior of the epoxy resin, where composite reinforced cotton nonwoven shows a specific Young’s modulus of 3500 MPa/g·cm⁻³ and a specific tensile strength of 38 MPa/g·cm⁻³. These panels have been found to be promising materials to decrease the noise emission and good alternatives to pure epoxy products due to their contribution to reducing the textile wastes in landfills as well as the production costs.

The aim of this study is to enhance the fiber-matrix interface of cotton waste reinforced composite panels by a specific chemical treatment. For this purpose, cotton fibers are treated in sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution with three different concentrations (0.5 M, 1 M, and 1.5 M) and three different soaking times combinations (1 h, 3 h, and 5 h). Mechanical evaluation of treated and untreated reinforcements and composite panels are characterized using tensile test whereas the chemistries of fiber reinforcements are investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis and the fiber-matrix interactions are morphologically examined using scanning electron microscopy. Results indicate a remarkable enhancement in mechanical properties of composites via improving the interfacial adhesion and compatibility between fiber and matrix with a significant increase of Young modulus up to 270% for reinforcements and to 70% for composite materials compared to untreated materials.

Textile wastewater is polluted by inorganic/organic substances, polymers, dyes, and microfibers (MFs), which are microplastics (MPs) and natural fibers. This work is aimed at the preliminary investigation of MFs and MPs in textile industrial wastewater, and at evaluating the removal efficiency of an on-site wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Ten samples of inflows and outflows of the WWTP of a textile company (applying a physic-chemical process) have been analyzed. Firstly, the samples underwent a pretreatment with 15% hydrogen peroxide at 25 °C for 5 days to remove organic compounds. Secondly, the MFs were recovered from the aqueous phase by pre-screening centrifugation, density separation, and filtration as alternative options. Filtration obtained the best performances, compared to the other recovery processes. Thirdly, the MFs were counted through optical microscopy and the MPs were identified through micro-FTIR. The MFs amount in the inflow samples was in the range of 893–4452 MFs/L. The outflow samples (310–2404 MFs/L) exhibited a 38–65% reduction compared to the inflows, demonstrating that up to 62% of residual MFs can enter the sewer network or the receiving water body. Cotton and wool, and numerous MPs (acrylic, polyester, polypropylene, polyamide, and viscose/rayon) were identified in the inflow and outflow samples (with the only exception of “dense” viscose (rayon), not detected in the outflows, and probably retained by the WWTP with the sludge). This study, even if just preliminary, offers interesting hints for future research on MFs/MPs detection in textile wastewater, and on the performance of a full-scale WWT process for their removal.