Investigation on the Processability and Thermal Aspects of Date Palm Nanofiller/Polypropylene Biocomposites Processed via Melt Cast Film Extrusion

Abstract

To preserve the environment and its resources for future generations, research must focus on alternate methods of producing materials that begin with an environmentally friendly and sustainable source. In view of this, nanosize reinforcing fillers were obtained from date palm agricultural waste without use of any toxic chemicals. Date nanofillers (DNF) with typical filler sizes ranging from 30-110 nm in width and 1-10 mm in length were obtained using rotary mechanical ball milling methods. This filler was then dry blended with the polypropylene (PP) to make a biocomposites thin film to study processability characteristics of this fillers. The loading of this filler was kept in the range of 1-5wt. % and film were melted cast through a slit height of 0.6mm. The resulting PP/DNF biocomposites films were subsequently analyzed by various analytical techniques to established structure property relationship. The change in thermal properties with loading of this filler was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). TGA study showed that the thermal stability of film samples improved up to 20 °C when compared to the neat PP, representing an 8% enhancement. While the DSC measurement indicated that the crystallinity of the highest filler loading sample reduced from 52.89% to 41.79% in comparison to the PP sample. The surface morphology of some samples shows the compact and smooth feature, indicating the incorporation of fiber fillers could improve the structure of polymer. Therefore, study gave some insight into the processing behavior of such composites, which may be useful in some packaging applications.