Development of carbonized coconut shell filled High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) composite

Abstract

Carbonized coconut shell powder had been utilized as filler and it was incorporated in the HDPE matrix to develop carbonized coconut shell filled HDPE composites. The coconut shell powder was treated by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with the concentration of 1, 3, 5 and 7 wt% for 2 hours. The 7 wt% treated coconut shell revealed better filler properties in the proximate analysis, thus it was converted into carbon black via carbonization process at 600 °C and used as filler in HDPE composites. The carbonized coconut shell filled HDPE composites with different filler loading of 5 wt% to 20 wt% were prepared. The HDPE composites were prepared in the extruder at operating conditions of 180 °C at 70 rpm of screw speed. The increase in the filler loading enhanced the tensile strength and the Young’s modulus of HDPE composite. However, the elongation at break of the composite was observed to decrease with an increasing in the filler loading. There are some voids observed in the HDPE/CCS5 composites while good surface adhesion was presented in HDPE/CCS15 composites. The water uptake by the composites was observed to be increase with the filler loading. Therefore, the optimum filler loading for carbonized coconut shell filled HDPE composite was determined as 15 wt% because it provides high tensile strength with moderate water absorption properties.