Modification of mechanical properties by TiO2 nano-particle for biodegradable materials made from palm oil sludge and activated sludge cake

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particle is widely used in composite materials to its improved mechanical properties. TiO2 nano-particle was used in the composite material that consists of palm oil sludge from the palm oil production and activated sludge cake from a papermaking process. TiO2 was synthesized by a hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide. The parameter was investigated by the mole ratio of reactant to different solvents (isopropanol and isobutanol). The solution was prepared by adjusting pH to acid solution, resulting in different sizes and distributions of precipitate which was heated at different temperatures. The obtained samples were then morphologically and structurally characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size distribution (PSD). The experimental results show that the TiO2 sample from isopropanol solvent with heated temperature of 600 °C exhibits the best results. Consequently, different mass fractions of TiO2 (0, 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0%, 4.0% and 8.0%) were used for specimens that were made from palm oil sludge mixed with activated sludge cake. All samples were later characterized by 3-point bending test and compression test. The results indicate that the adding 0.5% and 1.0% TiO2 particles to the composite material outperforms the other fractions in terms of enhancing mechanical properties. Nonetheless, mechanical properties tends to decrease when adding 2.0% TiO2.