Effect of Using Alkoxy - Silane (ethoxy silane) Coupling Agent to Enhance the Mechanical Properties of Bio-Composites

Abstract: This research work investigated the effect of alkoxy silane (ethoxy silane) on the mechanical properties of polyethylene/ dried powdered pine apple peels composite. The pine apple peels was washed in distilled water, sun dried for about eight hours and later oven dried at a temperature of 60oC for about three hours. The dried pine apple peels was pulverized and sieved using a mechanical sieve arranged in descending order of fineness. The alkoxy-silane (ethoxy-silane) coupling agent (2%) was first hydrolyzed in ethanol to deliver the alkoxy functional silane to the interior of the pineapple peels and ion-free water at room temperature for 6 hours. This was followed by addition of the dried powdered pineapple peels into the hydrolyzed coupling agent solution in a reactor at a temperature of about 80 ◦C for 20 minutes. The formed product was oven dried at 110 ◦C for 3 hours and pulverized using a locally made grinding machine and sieved using a set of sieves arranged in descending order of fineness in accordance with BS1377:1990 standard as was reported by Rajan et al., (2007) to obtain pineapple peels coated with the coupling agent (150mμ). The recycled polyethylene waste was washed using distilled water, sun-dried and shredded in a shredding machine. The pineapple peels powder coated with alkoxy silane and the shredded recycled polyethylene waste were blended using a two-roll rheo-mixer at 50°C and a rotor speed of 60 rpm. The percentage of the powdered pineapple peels coated with coupling agent in the recycled polyethylene matrix was varied from 10% to 40% to produce four different compositions. A hydraulic pressing machine was used to compress the produced composites for about ten minutes applying a pressure of about 25 tons at 130°C. The produced composite samples were allowed to cool to room temperature under sustained pressure before being removed from the hydraulic press for various mechanical tests. The impact tests were performed according to ASTM D256 standard using Impact testing machine model EXT94064/6705CE, 300 J. Flexural test was performed using Universal Testing Machine model TUE-C-100, according to ASTM D790. The hardness tests were performed according to ASTM D785 standard using Rockwell Scale K hardness testing machine. The results showed that maximum flexural strength of 10.8MPa and 384Hv were recorded at 40wt.% reinforcement. The developed composite can be used applications where moderate strength will be required.