The Effect of Volume Fraction of Cassava Starch and Chitosan Matrix Reinforced with Bamboo Fiber on Fire Resistance.

Abstract

The use of crabs as a food source has generated a new issue: shell waste. Recently, crab shell waste has been discovered to be
a viable raw material for producing chitosan, a naturally derived and environmentally friendly polymer. This research
investigates the fire resistance properties of a composite material composed of a chitosan and cassava starch matrix reinforced
with bamboo fibers. Specimens were fabricated using the hand lay-up method, with matrix-to-fiber volume fractions of
95%:5%, 90%:10%, and 85%:15%. Flammability resistance testing using ASTM D635. Test results revealed that increasing
the fiber volume fraction reduced the time to ignition (TTI) of the composite, with the longest ignition delay observed in the
95%:5% variant, averaging 27.24 seconds.