Impact of Hybrid Fillers on the Properties of High Density Polyethylene Based Composites

Basheer A Alshammari; Asma M Alenad; Fahad S Al-Mubaddel; Abdullah G Alharbi; Abdulaziz Salem Al-Shehri; Hanan A Albalwi; Fehaid M Alsuabie; Hassan Fouad; Abdel-Hamid I Mourad

doi:10.3390/polym14163427

Impact of Hybrid Fillers on the Properties of High Density Polyethylene Based Composites

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Aug 22;14(16):3427. doi: 10.3390/polym14163427.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Materials Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
² Chemistry Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia.
³ Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Fellow, King Abdullah City for Renewable and Atomic Energy (KA-CARE) Energy Research and Innovation Center, (ERIC), Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Sabic Plastic Applications Development Center (SPADC), King Saud University, Riyadh 12373, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ National Centre for Chemical Catalysis Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University, Cairo P.O. Box 11795, Egypt.
¹⁰ Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirate University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates.
¹¹ Mechanical Design Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mataria, Helwan University, Cairo P.O. Box 11795, Egypt.

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to develop a variety of hybrid high-density polyethylene (HDPE) micro- and nanocomposites and to investigate their thermal, mechanical, and morphological characteristics as a function of number of fillers and their contents percentage. In this study, 21 formulations of the composites were prepared using fillers with different sizes including micro fillers such as talc, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), as well as nano-filler (fumed silica (FS)) though the melt blending technique. The morphological, mechanical, and thermal properties of the composite samples were evaluated. The morphological study revealed negligible filler agglomerates, good matrix-filler interfacial bonding in case of combined both CaCO₃ and FS into the composites. Sequentially, improvements in tensile, flexural and Izod impact strengths as a function of fillers loading in the HDPE matrix have been reported. The maximum enhancement (%) of tensile, flexural and impact strengths were 127%, 86% and 16.6%, respectively, for composites containing 25% CaCO₃ and 1% FS without any inclusion of talc filler; this indicates that the types/nature, size, quantity and dispersion status of fillers are playing a major role in the mechanical properties of the prepared composites more than the number of the used fillers.

Keywords: composite; filler; flexural strength; high-density polyethylene; impact energy; polymer; tensile testing.

Grants and funding

project number 375213500/Al Jouf University