Agrowaste-based composites from cocoa pod husk and polypropylene

Abstract

Cocoa pod husk (CPH)-filled polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared via melt compounding. The effect of filler content and chemical treatment using 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on properties of composites were investigated. The results indicated that the treated composites with MPS and SDS improved the tensile strength, tensile modulus, thermal stability, stabilization torque, water resistivity, and crystallinity of composites. The treated composites with SDS show better tensile properties and water resistivity than composites treated with MPS. Scanning electron microscopic results show that the interfacial bonding between CPH and PP matrix improved with the presence of MPS or SDS.

Thermoplastic/Natural Filler Composites: A Short Review

“…[23][24][25][26] In fact, the addition of natural fillers with thermoplastic was becoming one of the biggest areas of research. [27][28][29] Indeed, the addition of natural fillers to thermoplastics can certainly reduce the cost of the final product. In some way, it can increase the performance of the final product.…”

Green coupling agent for agro‐waste based thermoplastic composites

“…Usually, the WPC refers to the composite that contains wood filler and thermoset or thermoplastic materials. The WPC is usually applicable in construction, furniture, packaging, household, and automotive products, for examples, decking, window fitting, car panelling, rear shelves, packaging tray, and tableware . The rapid growth of WPC market raised a serious concern on the limitation of wood filler resources to support the industrial needs .…”

“…The cocoa pod husk (CPH) is a major waste product from the cocoa agricultural and industrial sectors as it is a non‐food part of the cocoa pod after obtaining the cocoa beans . Generally, CPH accounts for as much as 76% of cocoa pod by weight and each ton of dry cocoa bean produced will generate ten tons of CPH as waste material .…”

“…This might lead to poor interfacial compatibility between the agro‐waste filler and thermoplastic matrix and yield a composite with undesirable mechanical properties and water resistivity. The use of organic acid , silane , maleated co‐polymer , fatty acid and its derivatives has been reported as the coupling agent in order to overcome the interfacial incompatible hydrophilic natural filler and hydrophobic matrix. At present, a green coupling agent (GCA) is being made from the virgin coconut oil.…”

High performance biocompatible cellulose‐based microcapsules encapsulating gallic acid prepared by inverse microsuspension polymerization

“…The silanol groups subsequently underwent self‐condensation to form –O–Si–O– as confirmed by the appearance of the FTIR characteristic peak at 1070 cm −1 (Fig. ) . The acidic conditions were meant to prevent reversible hydrolysis of the –O–Si–O– linkage and to ensure the formation of a bidimensional siloxane network .…”