Final properties of composite materials based on high density polyethylene filled with illite clay and metakaolin

ANDRÉS E. CIOLINO; MARIO D. NINAGO; OLIVIA V. LÓPEZ; MA. GABRIELA PASSARETTI; MARCELO A. VILLAR; CECILIA I. PAULO

San Rafael, Mendoza

Congreso; CLICAP 2018 - Congreso Latinoamericano de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas; 2018

Facultad de Ciencias Aplicadas a la Industria de la UNCuyo

Polymeric composites are reinforced materials with low filler concentration. Currently, mineral clays are the most usedmaterials as fillers of composites due to their relative low cost and high availability. Illite clay (AI) is a silicate of the micafamily; meanwhile metakaolin (MK) is an activated aluminosilicate, obtained by the calcination of kaolin. In this work, astructural characterization of AI and MK particles were performed by Laser Diffraction (LD), Scanning ElectronMicroscopy (SEM), Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). LD test showed a unimodalparticle distribution for MK and bimodal particle distribution for AI. Both fillers were incorporated to a high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix at two concentrations (1 and 5 % w/w). Obtained composites resulted homogeneous, translucent, and easy to handle. A good distribution of both fillers in the HDPE matrix was observed by SEM. However, itwas evidenced a reduction in the films ductility by the addition of both minerals. Notwithstanding AI and MK particles acted as physical barrier against both UV and visible radiation increasing UV barrier capacity and opacity of HDPE based materials, without compromising films transparency.