This study assessed the potential of snail shell (SSs) derived calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) particles as reinforcements in epoxy-based composites (ESS) and as well investigate the effects of cyclic thermal treatment and SSs content on the mechanical and physical properties. The composites were developed through stir casting using an open mold technique after producing the snail shell particles (SSp). After curing, parts of the developed samples were post-cured by subjecting them to cyclic thermal treatment and both sets of samples were tested and characterized in accordance with the relevant standards. Analysis of the results revealed that, thermal cycling treatment and 10–20 wt% reinforcement content were the most suitable conditions/parameters for the development of snail shell reinforced epoxy composites for structural applications. The incorporation of SSp into epoxy-based composites significantly improved mechanical properties, with 20 wt% treated SSp (ESS20) yielding the highest tensile strength (4.56 MPa) that culminated to a 94% increase over the treated control while in the untreated condition, the ESS20 was with 260.3% over untreated control sample (ESS0). Flexural strength was at peaked for 25.3 MPa in untreated ESS20 while treated composites showed a maximum flexural modulus of 0.75 GPa at ESS10. Impact strength was highest in ESS10 (1.82 kJ/m²) for untreated and ESS20 (2.09 kJ/m²) for treated composites. Hardness was at maximum at ESS20 (65.6 HS) for untreated and ESS15 (65.4 HS) for treated. Water absorption was limited by the thermal cycling treatment carried out on the samples while the density was enhanced as the SSp content increases in addition to thermal treatment. The use of SSp as a reinforcing filler also presents significant environmental and economic advantages worth considering for real-world applications. These attributes make SSp reinforced composites promising for low-cost-sensitive industries such as construction, packaging and automotive.
Oladele et al. (Wed,) studied this question.