Development of cockle shells derived calcium carbonate filled High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

Abstract

In this reseach, development of cockles shell derived calcium carbonate filled high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite was carried out by combined mechanical and chemical process. The used of different concentration of HCl (1 wt %, 3 wt %, 5 wt %, 7 wt %) for acid pretreatment to cockle shells. The cockle shells then were characterized to determine the moisture content, chemical composition and functional group. Then, the cockle shell powder was mixed with HDPE with different filler loading such as 5 wt %, 10 wt %, 15 wt % and 20 wt % of cockle shells. The tensile properties, morphology study and water absorption properties were evaluated at different filler loading. The results show that the tensile properties such as tensile strength and Young’s modulus increased as the filler loading increased. However, the elongation at break for the composite decrease as the filler loading increased. The morphology study are well matched with the tensile strength as the filler loading increased, the amount of filler in the composite that can be seen in composite also increase. Increasing the filler loading also has increase the ability of composite to absorb water. As conclusion, the highest filler loading was determine as the optimum filler loading.