Preparation And Characterization Of Waste Fruit Starch Filled Polypropylene Composites

Muhammad , Muhammadin (2011) Preparation And Characterization Of Waste Fruit Starch Filled Polypropylene Composites. Project Report. UTeM, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to study the mechanical properties and degradability of the waste fruit starch filled polypropylene composites as a function of filler loading and chemical treatment in terms of concentration and treatment time. A series of polypropylene (PP)/banana starch compounds with various banana starch contents were prepared by internal mixer with the addition of silane coupling agent as compatibilizer. The filler loading of the composites is the main factor to determine the strength of the composites. The composites were compounded into five compounding. Each compounding has 5, 10, 15 and 30 percent of banana skin filler. The molten composites that taken out from internal mixer was pressed using a hot press machine. Studies on their mechanical properties and biodegradation were carried out by tensile test, water absorption test and soil burial analysis respectively. The presence of high starch contents had an adverse effect on the tensile properties of PP/banana starch blends. However, the addition of silane as compatibilizer to the blends improved the interfacial adhesion between the two materials, hence, improved the tensile properties of the composites.High content of starch also found to increase the rate of biodegradability of PP/banana starch composites. It can be proved by weight loses in soil burial analysis and weight gained in water absorption testing. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to determine the presence of organic or inorganic element of the composites.

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