Production and investigation of the mechanical properties of polypropylene-biosilica composites

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP) as thermoplastic has found use in the production of a variety of items due to its cheapness which is related to its ease of production. However, its usage is limited due to limitations inherent in its mechanical properties. On the other hand, the production of biosilica (BS) from rice husk ash is a relatively easy process and a cheap source for silica. This, therefore, makes the possibility of production of polypropylene-biosilica composite to further reduce the cost of PP and increase its wide range of applications a field of research. This research developed PP-BS composites with varying compositions of BS and tested their mechanical properties. The mechanical properties like tensile strength, flexural strength, toughness and hardness were experimentally determined using ASTM standard test methods. It was found that the addition of BS to PP does not significantly change its ultimate tensile strength. It was also found that the addition of biosilica to PP causes an average rise in other mechanical properties of the PP matrix-like Young’s Modulus and Flexural Modulus. Whereas, for other mechanical properties such as toughness and hardness, the addition of biosilica to the PP matrix caused an average decrease in these properties.