Date Palm Fiber-Reinforced Recycled Polymer Composites: Synthesis and Characterization

In this research study, Recycled Polymer (RP) composites are synthesized by using compression molding process, initial mixtures of RP and Date Palm Fibers (DPF) with four different lengths (e.g., 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10mm) and weight ratios (e.g., 5, 10, 15, and 20wt%). The RP composites utilized in this study are polyethylene and polypropylene. The mixtures of RP and DPF are heated at 80 degrees C and then poured into a priori prepared mold. The mold is designed to have three cavities for three specimens in order to characterize them through impact, creep, and tensile tests. The results showed that the hardness and impact increased with this process. In addition, an increase in the DPF up to 15wt% was observed with a small increase in the DPF length. High creep resistance was also observed to be 10mm with 20wt% in the DPF specimens. The maximum strain was obtained in a 2.5mm fiber length with 5% of DPF due to ductility of the plastic matrix. Moreover, with a small ratio of tough DPF, short fibers are unable to block or resist rapid plastic deformation in specimens. In fact, the DPF specimens of 10 mm length with 20 wt% exhibit a high tensile strength of 78N/mm(2) in comparison with other composite specimens. This is due to the length and content of fibers, which improve transferring action and microfailure modes.

Automated summary

In this study, Recycled Polymer (RP) composites were synthesized using compression molding process. Date Palm Fibers (DPF) were used as reinforcement materials with different lengths and weight ratios. The results showed that the hardness and impact of the composites increased with the increase of DPF weight ratio and length. The specimens with 10mm length and 20wt% weight ratio exhibited the highest creep resistance and tensile strength. The specimens with 2.5mm length and 5% weight ratio had the maximum strain due to the ductility of the plastic matrix.