Thermal Properties of Olive Pomace Filled Linear Low Density Polyethylene Bio-Composites

Abstract

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed to evaluate the influence of olive pomace flour (OPF) and a coupling agent (C) on linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) bio-composites. The glass transition temperature (T_g), melting temperature (T_m), enthalpy of fusion (ΔH_m), crystallization temperature (T_cryst.), heat of crystallization (ΔH_cryst,) and percent crystallinity (X_c) were extracted from the DSC results. The degradation behavior was extracted from the TGA. T_g value (–114 °C) was unaffected by the addition of both OPF and C. A sharp DSC T_m peak, around 125 °C, was observed with its position being dependent on both filler and C contents. The ΔH_m for the filler at 40% content decreased slightly, from 132 J/g for 0% filler to 123 J/g. TGA showed that the thermal degradation of LLDPE in the composite became easier upon increasing the OPF filler and coupling agent.

Keywords:

• bio-composite
• coupling agent
• linear low-density polyethylene
• olive pomace filler
• thermal properties