Effect of eco-degradant on properties of low density polyethylene/corn stalk eco-composites

K. S. Chun, C. M. Yeng, Salmah Husseinsyah, M. M. Pang, Azimah Ismail

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The eco-composites were prepared from corn stalk (CS) and low density
polyethylene (LDPE) using Brabender internal mixer. An eco-degradant was used
as degradable additive in LDPE/CS eco-composites. This study was focused on
the effect of filler loading and eco-degradant on tensile, thermal, morphological
and water absorption properties of LDPE/CS eco-composites. The incorporation
of CS deteriorated the tensile strength and elongation at break of LDPE/CS ecocomposites, but increased the Young’s modulus of eco-composites. The water
absorption of LDPE/CS eco-composites also increased with increases of CS
content. However, the addition of CS has contributed to increase of the
crystallinity of LDPE matrix which due to nucleating effect of filler. The addition
of eco-degradant has increased the tensile strength and elongation at break in
average of 17.4% and 78.6%, respectively. However, the Young’s modulus was
decreased. The present of eco-degradant also improved the water resistivity and
crystallinity of eco-composites. The increase of crystallinity in LDPE/CS ecocomposites causes the increase in melting temperature. The filler dispersion and filler-matrix adhesion of LDPE/CS eco-composites were improved due to addition of eco-degradant which evidenced by scanning electron microscope.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1165-1177
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Engineering Science and Technology
Volume12
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - May 2017

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