Characterization of LDPE Reinforced with Calcium Carbonate—Fly Ash Hybrid Filler

Samson Oluropo Adeosun,Winifred Ifeoma Dibie,Mohammed Awwalu Usman,Emmanuel Isaac Akpan

doi:10.4236/jmmce.2014.24038

Samson Oluropo Adeosun, Winifred Ifeoma Dibie + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4236/jmmce.2014.24038

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Abstract

The synergetic effect of calcium carbonate (CC)-fly ash (FA) hybrid filler particles on the mechanical and physical properties of low density polyethylene (LDPE) has been investigated. Low density polyethylene is filled with varying weight percentages of FA and CC using melt casting. Composites are characterized for mechanical, thermal, microstructural and physical properties. Results show that the flexural strength increases with increases in FA content of the hybrid filler. It is evident from the study that to achieve optimum density a certain combination of both fillers need to be used. The optimum combination of CC and FA for a higher density (1.78 g/cm3) is found to be at 20 wt% FA and 30 wt% CC. An increase of 7.27% in micro-hardness over virgin polyethylene is obtained in composites with 10 wt% FA and 40 wt% CC. The presence of higher amount of CC is seen to be detrimental to the crystallinity of composites. X-ray, FTIR and DSC results show that composite with 45 wt% CC and 5 wt% FA exhibits a typical triclinic polyethylene structure indicating that the composite is amorphous in nature. There was the synergy between FA and CC fillers on flexural strength and crystallinity of composite. However, the fillers show the antagonistic effect on energy at peak and micro-hardness.

Highlights

Low density polyethylene resins are among the most versatile polymers, but their uses are limited due to several drawbacks, namely low strength, stiffness and poor heat resistance
It is observed that flexural strength decrease initially when the combination of the filler is dominated by Calcium carbonate (CC) but increase sharply when the filler content is dominated by fly ash (FA)
It has been reported that increase in the content of fly-ash to polyethylene leads to increase in flexural strength [24]

Summary

Introduction

Low density polyethylene resins are among the most versatile polymers, but their uses are limited due to several drawbacks, namely low strength, stiffness and poor heat resistance. To overcome these drawbacks and to prepare material with improved properties, fillers are incorporated into the matrix [1]. A good chunk of this is likely to be utilized for the generation of power from coal fired power stations. This would create a huge amount of fly ash (FA), which is a residue (solid waste) resulting from the combustion of coal. Reported utilization of FA includes as the replacement of clay in bricks [7], in road pavement [8], in waste management [9], in synthesis of zeolite [10] [11], as catalyst for biodiesel production [12] [13] and as fillers in polymers [2] [14]

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