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Some Properties of Composites Made from Blends of Date Pits and High Density Polyethylene

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  MBSK 06-211,  ASABE/CSBE North Central Intersectional Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.22370) @2006
Authors:   A Ghazanfari, J Fung, S Panigarhi
Keywords:   Date Pit, HDPE, Composite boards, Biocomposites

The possibility of producing composites by date pits flour as filling material and HDPE as the matrix was investigated. The blending proportion were 1) 10% date pits, 90% HDPE, 2) 20% date pits, 80% HDPE, 3) 30% date pits, 70% HDPE, and 4) 40% date pits, 60% HDPE. Composite boards (200.0 200.0 6.0 mm) were fabricated using a hydraulic press operating at 180C with a gauge pressure about 70MPa. The resulting composite was a dark chocolate in color. The tensile and flexural properties of the resulting composite boards were investigated using the ASTM standard methods D638 and D790. In both tests, the modulus of elasticity of the composite made from the date pits flour were higher than the composite prepared from virgin HDPE at 130C, but the modules were lower than the virgin HDPE processed at 180C. High temperature processing of HDPE altered its original properties and consequently increased its modulus of elasticity. The moisture absorption tests (using ASTM D570) indicated that the moisture absorbed by the composites significantly increased with the increase in the blending proportion.

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