Effect of Calcium Carbonate on Thermal Properties of Caco_3/Kenaf/HDPE and Caco_3/Rice Husk/HDPE Composites

摘要

In this research, the thermal properties of 30% filler loading of natural fibers with varying filler loadings of calcium carbonate (CaCO_3) were studied. CaCO_3 was compounded using twin-screw extruder with rice husk/high density polyethylene (HDPE) and kenaf/HDPE composites to produce composites. Compounded composites were prepared and tested for thermal properties. The thermal stability of the components was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) to identify the influence of CaCO_3 filler loading on thermal properties of the composites. The cycle heating for TGA was 30-800°C while for differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) was 30-300°C. Melting temperature (T_m) of kenaf/HDPE hybrid composites increased slightly with addition of 10% CaCO_3. However, decreasing T_m was found for all CaCO_3 filler loading in rice husk/HDPE composites. The DSC analysis showed that the degree of crystallinity (X_c) of hybrid composite decrease with the addition of CaCO_3 filler loading. From TGA result, CaCO_3/kenaf/HDPE hybrid composite showed better thermal stability compared to CaCO_3/rice husk/HDPE hybrid composite.