Date palm biochar-polymer composites: An investigation of electrical, mechanical, thermal and rheological characteristics

Anesh Manjaly Poulose; Ahmed Yagoub Elnour; Arfat Anis; Hamid Shaikh; S M Al-Zahrani; Justin George; Mohammad I Al-Wabel; Adel R Usman; Yong Sik Ok; Daniel C W Tsang; Ajit K Sarmah

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.076

Date palm biochar-polymer composites: An investigation of electrical, mechanical, thermal and rheological characteristics

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Apr 1:619-620:311-318. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.076. Epub 2017 Nov 29.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Chemical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: apoulose@ksu.edu.sa.
² Chemical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.
³ Civil Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; Soils and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
⁶ O-Jeong Eco-Resilience Institute (OJERI), Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
⁸ Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.

PMID: 29154049
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.076

Abstract

The application of biochar (BC) as a filler in polymers can be viewed as a sustainable approach that incorporates pyrolysed waste based value-added material and simultaneously mitigate bio-waste in a smart way. The overarching aim of this work was to investigate the electrical, mechanical, thermal and rheological properties of biocomposite developed by utilizing date palm waste-derived BC for the reinforcing of polypropylene (PP) matrix. Date palm waste derived BC prepared at (700 and 900°C) were blended at different proportions with polypropylene and the resultant composites (BC/PP) were characterized using an array of techniques (scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy). Additionally the thermal, mechanical, electrical and rheological properties of the BC/PP composites were evaluated at different loading of BC content (from 0 to15% w/w). The mechanical properties of BC/PP composites showed an improvement in the tensile modulus while that of electrical characterization revealed an enhanced electrical conductivity with increased BC loading. Although the BC incorporation into the PP matrix has significantly reduced the total crystallinity of the resulted composites, however; a positive effect on the crystallization temperature (T_c) was observed. The rheological characterization of BC/PP composites revealed that the addition of BC had minimal effect on the storage modulus (G') compared to the neat (PP).

Keywords: Biochar; Date palm waste; Electrical conductivity; Polymer composites; Rheology.