Abstract. The paper deals with utilization of a by-product from the food industry, namely waste coming into being at processing hen eggs, i.e. egg-shells. Polymeric particle composites, i.e. structural two-component epoxy resins CHS EPOXY 324 Lepox 1200 filled with microparticles from hen egg-shells of 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt. % concentrations, were used within the research. The aim of the research was to evaluate the possibilities of the use of the microparticles based on hen egg-shells as the filler in the structural two-component resin. Another aim was to determine the influence of the filler content in the structure of the composite material on the mechanical properties, i.e. the tensile strength, elongation at break and hardness. The tensile strength was increased of 22 % at 10 wt. % egg-shell microparticle filler. The elongation at break was decreased with increasing the filler weight up of 34.5 %. The influence of the filler on the hardness was not statistically proved, however, the filler proved good wettability with the matrix. A scanning electron microscopy MIRA 3 TESCAN (SEM) was used for the description of the created composite material. The research was based on an assumption of an optimization of the waste utilization from renewable resources with the aim to gain a material providing good mechanical properties. The egg-shell microparticle filler proved the effectivity in the area of filling two-component epoxy resin also at high concentrations, i.e. to 40 wt. %.Keywords: composite, egg-shell microparticles, elongation at break, hardness, tensile strength.
IntroductionThe paper deals with utilization of a by-product from the food industry, namely waste coming into being at processing hen eggs. The production of hen eggs on an industrial level leads to an essential amount of shells, which are regarded as waste or they are used as a supplement in agriculture. Generally, it can be said that the egg-shells are of no economic value [1]. However, they are rich in minerals. This material can be regarded [2] as a source of the calcium filler. Many studies proved their positive influence [1] as an ingredient in various products. It has been demonstrated that using lowcost materials and a relatively simple process complex supports with a mixed inorganic-organic structure can be synthesized [3]. The recent research has been focused on development of biological composites where a matrix or a reinforcement is of a biological essence [4][5][6][7]. At present composites containing the biological reinforcement based on waste, i.e. the by-product from the manufacturing industry, [4] have been developed. A natural based material can be defined as a product made from renewable agricultural and forestry feedstock, including crops and crop by-products and their residues [8]. Biocomposites are also made with the use of various other ingredients, e.g., feather, cellulose fibres, coconut, flax, sisal, Ensete ventricosum, seeds of Phoenix, rice -husk, jute etc [1; 5; 6; 9-14] .About several hundred thousand tons of egg-shell ...