Recycling of Delonix regia Pods Biochar and Aluminium Filings in the Development of Thermally Conducting Hybrid Polystyrene Composites

As plastics, metals and agricultural wastes are mounting up daily, one major aspect of solid waste management is recycling of multiple solid wastes to develop functional materials. A ternary composite of aluminium filings, biochar from Delonix regia pod reinforced in solvated polystyrene has been produced via hand lay method. Thermal and microstructural properties are determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and SEM-EDX respectively. The functional groups present in the composite produced were also analyzed using FTIR. It was observed from the DSC results that thermal passage overtime decreases steadily then sharply and then increases steadily as the temperature increase. The heat capacity of 25% aluminium filler with 75% resin composite has the highest heat capacity as high as 2949.40 J/kg K while the biochar alone has the lowest heat capacity of 693.27 J/kg K. The resin has the heat capacity of 2120.90 J/kg K. Generally, the SEM image does not show any coagulation of either biochar or aluminium fillings to a particular area rather there was an even distribution of the fillers in the matrix thus a good interaction exists between matrix (polystyrene resin) and fillers (aluminium filings and biochar from D. regia pod). The EDX result confirms carbon (about 90%) as the major element present in the composite with traces of other elements like Potassium, Magnesium, Silicon, Iron and Calcium. The FTIR result shows the presence of alkane, alkene and aromatics which are basic components of the samples tested.

Automated summary

One major aspect of solid waste management is recycling of multiple solid wastes to develop functional materials. In this study, a ternary composite material of aluminium filings and biochar reinforced in solvated polystyrene was successfully produced, and its thermal and microstructural properties were evaluated. The results showed that the composite had good heat capacity and even distribution of fillers in the matrix.