Batu Reput filled recycled polypropylene eco-polymer composites

Abstract

The effect of Batu Reput, which scientifically called as Dolomite mineral filler on the mechanical properties of recycled polypropylene (rPP) mixed using Z-blade mixer was examined. This research has been done to investigate the mechanical properties of rPP/Batu Reput composites such as tensile properties and impact strength. The interfacial adhesion between the Batu Reput filler and rPP was investigated by examining the tensile fracture surface using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The water absorption of the composites was also determined for up to 14 days. In this study, tensile strength results exhibit 300μm with 10% filler content shows significant increase of mechanical strength compared to the neat rPP and other filler percentage composites. This is due to the good interfacial adhesion, better compatibility and good stress transfer during tensile test. While for water absorption testing, the result indicates that the smaller the particle size, the higher the water absorption percentage since there is large surface area of dolomite to be in contact with water. During SEM testing, it can be seen that the effect of dolomite properties on the rPP matrix has led to the good interfacial adhesion with a good compatibility between filler and matrix material. According to this research, the 10% dolomite of 300 μm obtained good tensile strength result compared to the others. While for impact strength testing, the result illustrates similar trend to other testing that lower filler ratio shows higher toughness.