Abstract
The article describes the investigation of the mechanical and thermal properties of polymer composites with flax or hemp fibers and polyethylene matrix (LDPE and LLDPE) with and without the maleic anhydrite as a compatybilizer. Also for increase the flammability resistance the 3 types of special flame retardants (5% by weight) were used as modifiers in the study. The composites with 3 and 5% by weight of flax and hemp fibers in the LDPE matrix have been prepared using a twin screw extruder, pulverizer and rotational molding machine. The influence of the flax and hemp content on mechanical and thermal properties (tensile test, DSC, Vicat softening temperature and UL 94 test) of obtained polymer composites has been presented. Also the structure of the prepared composites has been studied using the scanning electron microscopy - SEM. On the basis of the obtained results, it was found that modification of LDPE with flax or hemp fibers in the analyzed concentration range causes small improvement or does not significantly affect the tested properties of LDPE polymer. The use of flame retardants in the amount of 5% for most composites has a positive effect on flame retardancy. The study shows also that big differences in tested properties compared to unfilled LLDPE are visible for composites based on the LLDPE matrix with maleic anhydride. The presented preparation method and properties of obtained materials confirms the possibility of using this type of composites in production of rotational molded parts.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ortega, Z., Monzón, M.D., BenÃtez, A.N., Kearns, M., McCourt, M., Hornsby, P.R.: Banana and abaca fiber-reinforced plastic composites obtained by rotational molding process. Mater. Manuf. Process. 28, 879–883 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2013.792431
Cisneros-López, E.O., González-López, M.E., Pérez-Fonseca, A.A., González-Núñez, R., Rodrigue, D., Robledo-OrtÃz, J.R.: Effect of fiber content and surface treatment on the mechanical properties of natural fiber composites produced by rotomolding. Compos. Interfaces 24, 35–53 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/09276440.2016.1184556
Torres, F.G., Aragon, C.L.: Final product testing of rotational molded natural fibre-reinforced polyethylene. Polym. Test. 25, 568–577 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2006.03.010
Wang, B., Panigrahi, S., Tabil, L., Crerar, W.: Pre-treatment of flax fibres for use in rotationally molded biocomposites. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 26(5), 447–463 (2007). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0731684406072526
Monzón, M.D., Ortega, Z., BenÃtez, A.N., Ortega, F., DÃaz, N., Marrero, M.D.: Developments towards a more sustainable rotational moulding process. In: proceedings of 15th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM15), Venice, Italy, 24–28 June 2012. https://rotoworldmag.com/rotationally-moulded-natural-fibre-reinforced-polyethylene/
Lopez-Banuelos, R.H., Moscoso, F.J., Ortega-Gudino, P., Mendizabal, E., Rodrigue, D., Gonzalez–Nunez, R.: Rotational molding of polyethylene composites based on agave fibres. Polym. Eng. Sci. 52(12), 2489–2497 (2012). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pen.23168
Yuan, X., Easteal, A.J., Bhattacharya, D.: Mechanical performance of rotomoulded wollastonite reinforced polyethylene composites. Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 21(7), 1059–1066 (2007). http://www.escm.eu.org/eccm15/data/assets/878.pdf
Hanana, F.E., Rodrigue, D.: Rotational molding of self-hybrid composites based on linear low-density polyethylene and maple fibers. Polym. Compos. 39(11), 4094–4103 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.24473. Early View
Oliveira, M.A.S., Pickering, K.M., Sunny, T., Lin, R.J.T.: Rotational moulding of polyethylene reinforced with alkali treated hemp fibre. In: proceedings of CHEMECA 2018 Conference, Queenstown, New Zealand, 30 September – 3 October 2018
Cierpucha, W.: Technology of growing and processing of hemp fibers. Institute of Natural Fibres and Herbal Plants, Poznan (2013)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland under grant no. 02/25/DSPB/4520.
The authors would like to thanks: prof. Jerzy Mankowski, D.Sc. Jacek Kolodziej, M.Sc. Krzysztof Bujnowicz and Mrs. Maria Kanoniczak, all from Institute of Natural Fibers and Medical Plants, for help in fibers and composites preparation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Szostak, M., Tomaszewska, N., Kozlowski, R. (2019). Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Rotational Molded PE/Flax and PE/Hemp Composites. In: Gapiński, B., Szostak, M., Ivanov, V. (eds) Advances in Manufacturing II. MANUFACTURING 2019. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16943-5_42
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16943-5_42
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16942-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16943-5
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)