Eggshell, a new bio-filler for polypropylene composites

Published Date
September 2007, Vol.61(22):4347–4350, doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2007.01.102

Author 

Patricio Toro ^a,d

Raúl Quijada ^a,d

Mehrdad Yazdani-Pedram ^b,d

José Luis Arias ^c,d,,

• aFacultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
• bFacultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
• cFacultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
• dCenter for Advance Interdisciplinary Research in Materials (CIMAT), Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Received 29 September 2006. Accepted 27 January 2007. Available online 6 February 2007.

Abstract

Chicken eggshell (ES) is an industrial byproduct containing 95% calcium carbonate, and its disposal constitutes a serious environmental hazard. Different proportions of chicken eggshell as bio-filler for polypropylene (PP) composite were compared with different particle sizes and proportions of commercial talc and calcium carbonate fillers by tensile test. The Young's modulus (E) was improved with the increment of ES content, and this bio-filler was better than all types of carbonate fillers with different particle sizes used in this study. Although ES composites showed lower E values than talc composites, talc filler could be replaced by up to 75% with ES while maintaining a similar stiffness and E compared to the talc composites. Scanning electron microscopy showed an improved interfacial bonding on the tensile fractured surface. The improvement in the mechanical properties was attributed to a better ES/matrix interface related to the geometric ratio of the ES particles similar to talc particles.

Keywords

Eggshell

Bio-filler

Polypropylene

Composite materials

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  Corresponding author. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. Tel.: +56 2 9785623; fax: +56 2 5416840.

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