The Effect of Fibre Content on Mechanical Properties, Water Absorption and Morphology of Corn Husk Fibre Reinforced HDPE/POE Biocomposites

Abstract

In this work, composition ratios of high-density polyethylene and polyolefin elastomer (HDPE/POE) for 60:40 and 40:60 were prepared with 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of corn husk fibre (CHF) by using an internal mixer. The effects of CHF content on mechanical properties, water absorption and morphology on the biocomposites were investigated. The tensile strength for the biocomposites 60:40 ratio displayed optimum at 20% of fibre content; while the biocomposites 40:60 ratio has decreasing tensile strength from 10% to 30% of fibre content. The more fibre is needed to hold the matrix in place for biocomposites with POE dominance. At all compositions, the tensile modulus for the biocomposites 60:40 and 40:60 HDPE/POE ratios exhibited increasing patterns. However, the results of impact strength and elongation at break for the 60:40 and 40:60 ratios showed declining trends. The results demonstrate the addition of CHF increases the stiffness of the HDPE/POE matrix while decreasing the composites' flexibility. The water absorption biocomposites 60:40 ratio was higher than 40:60 ratio at all compositions due to a better surface interaction in composition HDPE/POE with 40:60 compared to 60:40 ratio, and also revealed by morphological studies on fracture surface biocomposites by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM).