The Influence of ginger spent loading on mechanical, thermal and microstructural behaviours of polyurethane green composites

Abstract

Polyurethane green composites with varying amounts viz., 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 wt% of finely powdered ginger spent have been fabricated. The fabricated polyurethane/ginger spent green composites have been performed for mechanical properties such as surface hardness and tensile behaviours. The swelling behavior of the composites has been studied in different organic solvents. Improvement in tensile behaviors of the polyurethane/ginger spent composites were noticed up to 7.5 wt% of ginger spent content. Thermogravimetric analysis of the green composites has been carried out in order to determine the thermal stability and their mode of thermal degradation behaviour. The thermogravimetric analysis curves of polyurethane/ginger spent composites indicated three-step thermal degradation processes, suffers no weight loss up to 193℃ and completely degrades at around 540℃. Thermal degradation kinetic parameters such as energy of activation (Ea) have been calculated for the green composites using two mathematical models namely Coats–Redfern and Broido’s models. The microcrystalline parameters such as crystal size (<N>) and lattice strain have been computed using wide-angle X-ray scattering data. The structure-property relationship of the polyurethane/ginger spent composites has been established on the basis of these parameters.