Polymer composite produced with Brazil nut residues and high impact polystyrene

Abstract

Solid residues from agroindustry often accumulate and cause environmental imbalance. An alternative to this is to use this residue as a reinforcement in polymers. The achievement of this work was to characterize a composite with a polystyrene matrix reinforced with Brazil nut shells residues. The residues were cleaned and ground to then produce the samples via injection molding with the proportions of 0%, 2.5% and 5% of load. The specimens were characterized using mechanical tensile testing and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The mechanical test showed that the composite with 2.5% of filler had greater stiffness and strength was improved by 5%. Thermal analysis showed an increase in the temperature for the beginning of the degradation of the M2.5 composite. The results confirm a potential application in the automotive industry for the polystyrene composite reinforced with Brazil nut shells.