Edith Yohanna Ishidi
Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology, Nigeria
Title: Physio - Mechanical properties and micro – structural studies of some agro – wastes - HDPE composites
Biography
Biography: Edith Yohanna Ishidi
Abstract
In order to clean up the environment, reduce material cost and produce material with required properties for different applications; coconut shell, groundnut shell and palm kernel nut shell were incorporated into high density polyethylene (HDPE). Two roll mill was used for the mixing of agro - wastes into HDPE polymer matrix. The formulated composites were subjected to different physio - mechanical property tests and micro – structural analysis: Advanced Material Testing Machine, Shore “A†hardness tester and Quanta 200 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) were used for the test. Properties such as density and percentage water absorption were also studied. The results obtained showed that the agro wastes impacted on the mechanical properties of the high density polyethylene (HDPE) significantly. The composites fabricated showed an improved hardness at 100g filler content and their densities ranged from 0.8g/cm3 to 0.9g/cm3. The densities of the resultant composites could compete favourably with some common building materials. The ESEM showed a fair interaction of the various agro wastes with the polymer matrix. This was evident in the structures formed as a result of the interaction between the two materials.