Evaluation of mechanical properties of polypropylene – Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene blend reinforced with cowrie shell [Cypraeidae] powder

Abstract

The urge to produce high-performance engineering products from the characteristic sustainable assets is growing continuously. Composite materials are amongst those versatile materials which combine the miscellaneous properties that can never be accomplished using the monolithic material. Nowadays, distinctive ecological issues are essentially influencing the advancements in material science and technology and there is a trend to investigate the capability of bio-fillers as the reinforcement phase for polymer matrix composites. The main impetus behind the use of natural resources is their renewability, biodegradable nature sometimes and importantly none of them impose any sort of adverse effect on the environment. Whereas sources of the synthetic reinforcing materials are limited and many of them cause environmental problems too. In this work, an attempt has been made to evaluate the potential of one such bio-filler, i.e., Cowrie Shell (CS) as a reinforcing phase for a polymer composite. Polypropylene (PP), Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and CS Powder were used as a polymer, rubber phase copolymer and reinforcing filler respectively to prepare PP/ABS blend (80/20 wt%/wt%) and development of composite material. CS powder (of particle size − 90 µm & 150 µm) was prepared by crushing, grinding and sieving operations and was blended in five different ratios up to 15 wt% with PP/ABS. The characterization of mechanical behavior was done by carrying tensile, flexural, and impact tests. The results showed a steady improvement in the tensile, flexural and impact strength with increasing CS concentration having cost efficient application. The outcome of the Polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) compatibilizer addition was also studied which has shown a further increase in the mechanical properties.