Polypropylene/olive pit & almond shell polymer composites: wear and friction

Abstract

Wood plastic composites (WPC) are made from wood and annual plant fiber or flours, mixing with plastics materials. WPC provide better properties than resources that form it. This renewable material has many utilization areas because of outstanding properties such as enhanced strength, stiffness, creep, physical and mechanical properties and dimension stability. In the present work, series of filled Polypropylene (PP) composites with olive pit and almond shell flour loading (between 0-40 wt %) were prepared, to study the effect of the filler content on the mechanical, wear and friction properties of polypropylene polymer composites. IntroductionParticularly, researches with regard to wood plastic composite materials have been continuously increased within the last 20 years because of the advantageous characteristics of each constituent in composite materials [1]. It is believed that source of petroleum based products are limited and uncertain. So an alternative with cheap sustainable and easily available raw material is required. The countries growing plant and fruit are not for only agricultural purpose but also to generate raw materials for industries. Most of the developing countries trade lignocellulosic fibers for improving economic condition of poor farmers as much as country support. Recently polymer composites containing cellulosic fibers are under focus in literature as well as industries [2]. The olive oil extraction processes generates huge amounts of solid lignocellulosic waste, representing 30-35% by weight of the olive fruit. The chemical composition of which; mainly composed of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose. Olive waste has a growing potential as a reinforcement filler materials among many other uses [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Qutaiba studied of a new range of sustainable reinforced polymer composite materials using powdered olive pits as a novel filler material to be used with epoxy resin. Also the influence of the untreated and treated powder loading (weight fraction) on the void content and the mechanical properties of the composites was examined. The results show significant improvements in mechanical properties for composites reinforced with treated olive pits than composites reinforced with untreated olive pits [9]. An investigation was carried out on the effects of olive pit and almond shell powder ratio on the mechanical, wear and friction properties of polypropylene polymer composites. Olive pit and almond shell powder, in four different concentrations (10, 20, 30 and 40 wt %), was added to PP to produce composites. The properties, including density, water absorption, Vicat softening point, heat deflection temperature, wear rate, friction of the composites were investigated.

Effect of Almond Shell Waste on Physicochemical Properties of Polyester-Based Biocomposites

“…This powerful area of interest presents several benefits such as biodegradability in combination with bio-based or natural polymers, light weight, low cost and easy processing [14,15]. Among the wide variety of lignocellulosic wastes, almond shell powder has been already considered as filler for commodity plastics, such as polypropylene [16][17][18][19][20], polyethylene [21], poly(methyl methacrylate) [22] and toughened epoxies [23,24].…”

Linear Low Density Polyethylene Filled with Almond Shells Particles: Mechanical and Thermal Properties

“…1a, density values of composites are higher than LLDPE itself. The density of the composites increased (from 0 to 40 wt%) linearly with an increase in weight percentage of filler [9].…”

Olive Stones as Filler for Polymer-Based Composites: A Review

“…Tasdemir et al [ 49 , 50 ] produced two different polypropylene (PP) composites, where one of them was filled with olive pit and the other with almond shell flour (both between 0 and 40 wt.%), and the effect of load content on mechanical and morphological properties was studied for each material. In relation to composites filled with olive pits, the tensile modulus increased with the load content, reaching its maximum value for 40 wt.% of olive pit flour, which was 18% higher than the value obtained for pure PP.…”