Polyvinyl Chloride Composites Filled with Olive Stone Flour: Mechanical, Thermal, and Water Absorption Properties

The production of olive oil leads to considerable amounts of solid waste mainly composed of hard woody endocarp called olive stones. The aim of this work is to explore the possible use of ground olive stones as fillers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), to elaborate a cost-effective composite material with a solid loading of up to 50 wt %. After grinding, the ensuing olive stone flour (OSF) was incorporated into a PVC matrix via melt compounding and injection molding to elaborate PVC-OSF-based composites with a filler content up to 50 wt %. The evolution of the mechanical performance, the impact property, the water absorbance, and wear resistance behavior, according to the OSF content, were investigated. The addition of OSF was shown to enhance the stiffness of the matrix, but at the expense of its mechanical strength. However, the strength of the composite did not fall as low as 30 MPa, and therefore, meets the requirements for many applications in plastic-based materials. The thermal properties of the ensuing composites were also studied by thermogravimetric analysis. The results show that the addition of OSF may be effective in increasing the stiffness of the PVC-based composite and in reducing the solid residue in the olive oil industry production. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.