UTILIZATION OF TEA WASTE AS AN ALTERNATIVE FILLER FOR NATURAL RUBBER

Abstract

Tea leave is considered worthless after being discarded. It frequently dumps to the environment without providing the best solution on it. In this study, tea leave waste (TW) was applied to be used as alternative filler for natural rubber. The study was evaluated through the curing characteristics, tensile properties and the morphology of the composites. The results have shown some interesting findings. As for the curing characteristics, the maximum torque was increased with increasing the TW loadings whereas the scorch and curing time showed the decreasing trend. The tensile modulus was also influenced by the addition of TW which correlated to the maximum torque observed. The extent of mechanical properties depends on the loadings of TW. Considering the amounts of TW, a 10 phr of TW was found to be a content of choice for natural rubber. It provided a balance set of properties regardless whether the mechanical properties and morphological characteristics of the natural rubber.