Abstract

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ABSTRACT In the interest of sustainable development and production of eco-friendly bio-composites, the use of natural fillers with synthetic resins in the production of composites has been the new trend in composite manufacture. In this study, calabash particles (CP) were used as filler in high density polyethylene (HDPE) to produce bio-composites. The calabash which was grinded and sieved into 125µm was introduced at 10% variation up to 50% filler loading followed by compounding and thereafter compression moulded. Two types of composites were prepared, in one, Maleic Anhydride (MA) as coupling agent was introduced at 3% on the weight of the filler together with an initiator Benzoyl Peroxide (BP) at 1% to enhance the interfacial adhesion between the CP and HDPE and in another no coupling agent was used. The result of tensile, flexural, impact strength hand tensile modulus shows increase from 0 to 40% filler loading of composites with coupling agent representing 21.61, 32.11, 63.16 and 42.97% increase respectively, but shows decreasing trend for composites without coupling agent with the exception of tensile modulus and hardness which increased from 0 to 50% filler loading representing 71.9% increase and 76.46% increase respectively. Also, SEM micrographs for the fractured surfaces show even dispersion of the filler particles in the composite with coupling agent and show signs of agglomeration for composites without coupling agent.

Keywords: Calabash Particles, HDPE, Tensile Strength, Flexural Strength, Impact Strength