Effect of Diatomite Weight Fraction on Morphology, Thermal and Physical Properties of Diatomite Filled High Density Polyethylene Composites

Abstract

High density polyethylene (HDPE) has been used extensively in many sectors of the industry. The main reason for the frequent use of HDPE is its low cost, easy processing, and high performance. These sectors include household and garden products, packaging etc. In order to reduce the production cost of plastic products and to improve plastic's moldability and stability, one or more minerals are usually filled into the thermoplastics. The minerals commonly used as fillers in plastic molding compounds include calcium carbonate, talc, silica, wollastonite, clay, mica, glass beads, and alumina trihydrate. In this paper, diatomite (DA) filled HDPE composites were prepared with gelimat mixer and hot press molding technique. Thermal properties of the composites were studied by thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis. The mechanical properties of the composites were determined by using universal testing machine. Morphology of the composites was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. With the addition of DA into HDPE, significant change in tensile and flexural strengths of HDPE was not observed. The loss and storage moduli increased with increasing weight fraction of DA.

Evaluation of crystallinity, thermal, mechanical and morphological features of high density polyethylene composites reinforced with crosslinked semifluorinated acrylate polymer microspheres

“…With this aspect, lots of studies were done to improve structural, mechanical, thermal, rheological properties of HDPE by using different secondary components in the form of particle or fibers. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] As seen from these studies, the chemical character, particle size and shape, compatibility with the matrix, content level, dispersion and distribution of the filler has a critical and deciding role in the performance of the final composites.…”