THE INFLUENCE OF FILLER LOADING AND THE CHEMICALLY MODIFIED FILLER SURFACE ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PALM KERNEL SHELL REINFORCED POLYESTER COMPOSITES

Abstract

Composites of unsaturated polyester (UP)/palm kernel shell (PKS) were prepared by hand lay-up technique. The effect of filler loading and modified PKS surface with silane coupling agent on mechanical properties and morphology of UP/PKS composites were studied. Tensile and flexural tests were done to determine the effect of filler loading on mechanical properties of composites. A silane coupling agent, 3 aminopropyltriethoxysilane (3-APE) was used to improve fiber-matrix adhesion. Increased of PKS filler loading in composites have decreased the value of tensile and flexural strength due to poor wettability and dispersion of PKS in matrix, but an increased in tensile and flexural modulus, indicate that stiffness was increased. However, the composites showed further improvement in these properties when treated PKS along with 3-APE was used at the same composition of filler due to better interfacial adhesion between filler and matrix. The study of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed the filler-matrix interaction was improved with an incorporation of 3-APE. Fourier Transform InfraRed Spectroscopy (FTIR) for chemically-modified filler showed the appearance of new peak indicating the interaction between 3- APE and PKS filler have been obtained.