Thermal Analysis and Morphological Characterization of Thermoplastic Composites Filled with Almond Shell Flour/Montmorillonite

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to study the potential uses of almond shell flour (ASF) in the production of thermoplastic composites containing montmorillonite (MMT). Thirty, 35, and 40 wt% ASF was used, and 2.0 wt% maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene was used as the compatibilizer. Two levels of MMT nanoclay, 2.5 and 5.0 wt%, were mixed with polypropylene (PP). The effects of MMT on the thermal properties of the blended composites were evaluated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), morphological characterization, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD data showed that the relative intercalation of the composites with 2.5 wt% MMT was higher than that of the 5.0 wt% nanoclay composites. The TGA results indicated that by increasing the MMT percentage, the degradation temperature and the thermal stability were enhanced. The MMT exhibited better dispersion in the clay layers of the polymer-matrix composites when increased from 2.5 to 5.0 wt%, and at the 5.0 wt% MMT loading, the size of MMT became larger. The total weight loss of the ASF/PP/MMT composite decreased as the filler content increased, and the thermal stability increased as the MMT content increased.

Effect of Almond Shell Waste on Physicochemical Properties of Polyester-Based Biocomposites

“…The TG curves corresponding to INZEA/ASP composites showed an evident decrease at the onset degradation temperature from 324 • C for neat INZEA to 275 • C and 280 • C, respectively, for INZEA_25ASC and INZEA_25ASF (Table 3). This behavior is essentially due to the relatively low thermal stability of the lignocellulosic filler, which initiated its degradation at 198 • C (Figure 2), and negatively contributed to the reduction of the global thermal stability of the INZEA-based biocomposites, in agreement with previous studies on the same bio-based reinforcement [17,20]. The introduction of the ASP filler mainly affected the thermal stability of the polyester component with the lower T peak temperature (maximum mass loss rate): in detail, T peak1 moved from 351 • C to 311 • C and 334 • C for INZEA_25ASF and INZEA_25ASC, respectively, while the temperature for the second peak (T peak2 ) remained practically unchanged for all the different composites (Table 3).…”

“…This powerful area of interest presents several benefits such as biodegradability in combination with bio-based or natural polymers, light weight, low cost and easy processing [14,15]. Among the wide variety of lignocellulosic wastes, almond shell powder has been already considered as filler for commodity plastics, such as polypropylene [16][17][18][19][20], polyethylene [21], poly(methyl methacrylate) [22] and toughened epoxies [23,24].…”

On the use of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil as a reactive compatibilizer in injection‐molded compostable pieces consisting of polylactide filled with orange peel flour

“…In particular, the green composite piece containing 10 wt% OPF without AESO showed T CC close to 108 °C, that is, 15 °C higher than that of the neat PLA piece. Therefore, this confirms that the OPF particles predominantly acted as anti‐nucleating agents for PLA, interrupting the folding or packing process of the PLA chains.…”

Linear Low Density Polyethylene Filled with Almond Shells Particles: Mechanical and Thermal Properties

“…The Almond Shell (Prunus Dulcis) is one of the most abundant and low-cost product which is available as a waste compound [2]. The almond shell has no important industrial value and it is normally incinerated or dumped [3][4]. It was reported that almond shell flour could play an important role in the fabrication of filled thermoplastic composites and wood-based panels, thus reducing the requirement for wood material [3,5].…”

“…The almond shell has no important industrial value and it is normally incinerated or dumped [3][4]. It was reported that almond shell flour could play an important role in the fabrication of filled thermoplastic composites and wood-based panels, thus reducing the requirement for wood material [3,5]. However, attempts to re-use almond shell wastes as a filler material for polymer have been limited so far.…”