Melt Rheological Behavior and Thermal Properties of Low-Density Polyethylene/Palm Kernel Shell Composites: Effect of Polyethylene Acrylic Acid

2012 ◽  
Vol 61 (14) ◽  
pp. 1091-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Salmah ◽  
B. Y. Lim ◽  
P. L. Teh
2012 ◽  
Vol 626 ◽  
pp. 615-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.Y. Lim ◽  
Salmah Husseinsyah ◽  
Pei Leng Teh

The rheological properties of the low density polyethylene (LDPE)/palm kernel shell (PKS) composites were studied by using a melt flow indexer. The silane treated and untreated composites were investigated. Both of the composites were further varied by amount of filler loading from 10 to 40 php. The testing temperature of composites varied from 180 to 210 °. It was found out that the MFI values of the composites increased with temperature but decreased with a rise of filler loading. The treated LDPE/PKS composites exhibited lower MFI values compared to untreated composites, which indicated the increase of viscosity. Thus, a better adhesion between the LDPE matrix and PKS was established. The effect of temperature on the viscosity of LDPE/PKS composites was found to obey the Arrhenius equation. The results showed that the activation energy of the composites increased with the increase of filler loading. However, at similar filler loading, the silane treated composites showed lower activation energy compared to untreated composites, leading to the reduction of their temperature sensitivity.


Author(s):  
F. Inegbedion ◽  
L. C. Igbonazobi ◽  
A. O. Imasuen ◽  
C. O. Inetianbor

All over the world, polyethylene wastes has been found littered on the streets of most communities and states. Palm kernel shell (agricultural waste) constitutes dirt and environmental pollution. The aim of this research was to study the potentials of palm kernel shell (PKS) filler as reinforcement for low density polyethylene (LDPE) waste. LDPE-Palm kernel shell composites of varying ratio (100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50) of LDPE to PKS respectively were produced using the compression moulding technique. Mechanical properties such as water absorption, hardness, young’s modulus and tensile strength of the composites were found to increase with increasing PKS loading. The results showed that composites containing 40% of PKS gave the highest tensile strength corresponding to 18.42MPa. The results also indicated that the composites with 50% filler loading gave the highest hardness of 84.25A and water absorption rate which stood at 3.1%. The elongation at break was found to decrease with increasing filler content. The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) obtained revealed that the composites with 20% and 50% palm kernel shell had voids and surface cracks.


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