Premium
Investigation on physicomechanical and wear properties of new green thermoplastic composites
Author(s) -
Syed Murtuza Ali,
Syed Akheel Ahmed
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.23409
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , flexural strength , polypropylene , composite number , filler (materials) , scanning electron microscope , izod impact strength test , flexural modulus , abrasion (mechanical)
This study was aimed at fabrication of green composites of polypropylene (PP) matrix 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt% of saw palmetto spent (SPS) (a spent of nutraceuticals) as filler material. Two wt% organically modified montmorillonite clay (MMT) was used as a co‐filler in all formulations and composites were fabricated by melt blending. The fabricated PP/SPS/MMT composites were characterized for physicomechanical and tribological properties. Improvement in tensile modulus of the composites was noticed with increase in SPS content. The tensile strength of composites was decreased by 14% with increase in filler content from 5 to 20 wt%. Flexural strength of the composites increased from 31.3 to 37.8 MPa (21% improvement) and also flexural modulus improved from 956 to 1383 MPa (45% improvement) with increased SPS content. Composites were subjected to three‐body abrasion with different loads and abrading distances. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) study revealed that the predominant wear mechanisms of composite material sliding against continuous flowing sand were microploughing and filler detachment from the polymer matrix. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:2306–2312, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers