Volume 12, Issue 3, July 2015, Pages 483–494

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• Fatima Zahra El Mechtali^a, 
• Hamid Essabir^b, c, 
• Souad Nekhlaoui^a, 
• Mohammed Ouadi Bensalah^a, 
• Mohammad Jawaid^d, 
• Rachid Bouhfid^b, 
• AbouEIkacem Qaiss^b, , 

• ^a Laboratory of Mechanic and Materials (LMM), Mohammed V-Rabat University, Faculty of Science, Rabat, Morocco
• ^b Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MAScIR), Institute of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology (NANOTECH), Laboratory of Polymer Processing, Rabat, Morocco
• ^c Laboratory of Mechanics in Processes, Energy and Environment, National School of Applied Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco
• ^d Department of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP) matrix composites reinforced with chemically treated Almond Shell (AS) particles with and without compatibilizer (PP-g-MA) was prepared by a twin-screw extrusion at loading of 20 wt.% AS particles. Two types of chemical treatments (alkali treatment with sodium hydroxide and etherification with dodecane bromide) of the particles were carried out to improve the interface adhesion between particles and PP matrix. Results show that chemical modifications of AS particles affect the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of AS/PP composites. The composites reinforced with alkali treated particles and the compatibilized matrix lead to a notable increase in the Young's modulus (14%) compared to the composites with untreated AS particles. The ductility of composite was also evaluated by the yield strain, and results show a notable increase (31%) compared to that of composites with untreated particles. The thermal stability increased with the use of etherification (385 °C), with gains in the temperature up to 23 °C compared to neat PP (362 °C). The achieved results show that the AS/PP composites can be used in several applications. A thermoplastic matrix compsite mixed with treated AS particles appears to be a good alternative to obtain environmentally friendly products.

Keywords

 Full text is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1672652914601396