Characterizations of some discarded shells particles polymer-based composites for ceilings and particles board applications

Abstract

Sea-shells, periwinkle-shells, and snail-shells were pulverized into 35.5 µm particle sizes. Using a two-roll Rheomixer with a rotor speed of 60 rpm for 10 minutes, the particles were thoroughly mixed with the binders in ratio 2:1 and placed in the compression mold of dimension 15 cm by 3 cm by 3 cm using a force of 1.5 kN. The Rockwell hardness tester on scale B with a 1.56 mm steel ball, optical microscope and Flexural tester were used to characterize the composites. Thermo-gravimetric analyzer and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer were used to characterize the shell particles. According to the results, epoxy resin (bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether poly) and hardener (isophoromediamine) composites containing periwinkle shell particles had the highest hardness number of 48 and could withstand maximum flexural load of 5.5 MPa ether poly) and hardener (isophoromediamine) proved to be the best epoxy resin. All the shell particleS functional groups were visible in the FTIR analysis with varying transmittances at their respective wavenumbers. Optical micrographs of the composites showed uniform distribution of the reinforcement and the matrix, thermo-gravimetric analyses demonstrated good thermal stability of the shell-particles up to 250 ◦C