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Title: ENZYME-RETTED FLAX FIBER AND RECYCLED POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITES

Author
item Foulk, Jonn
item CHAO, WAYNE - CLEMSON UNIV
item Akin, Danny
item DODD, ROY - CLEMSON UNIV
item LAYTON, PATRICIA - CLEMSON UNIV

Submitted to: Polymers and the Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/2004
Publication Date: 9/1/2004
Citation: Foulk, J.A., Chao, W.Y., Akin, D.E., Dodd, R.B., Layton, P.A. Enzyme-retted flax fiber and recycled polyethylene composites. Polymers and the Environment. 2004. v.12(3), p. 165-171.

Interpretive Summary: INCORPORATING FLAX IN PLASTIC MATERIALS PROVIDES REINFORCEMENT AND COULD LESSEN PROBLEMS WITH THE DISPOSAL OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. PLASTIC WASTE (SUCH AS HDPE FROM MILK CONTAINERS) IS CURRENTLY RECOVERED BECAUSE IT OFFERS MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND IS RECYCLABLE. TO INVESTIGATE THE UTILITY OF THESE MATERIALS, COMPOSITES CONTAINING FLAX FIBERS WITH RECYCLED HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE(HDPE)WERE CREATED. FLAX WAS EITHER ENZYME- OR DEW-RETTED TO OBSERVE COMPOSITE PROPERTY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIVERSE LEVELS OF ENZYME FORMULATIONS AND RETTING TECHNIQUES. FLAX FIBERS IMPROVED THE STIFFNESS OVER WOOD PULP AND HDPE ALONE AND WERE LESS DENSE THAN GLASS OR CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES. DEW-RETTED FIBER COMPOSITES RESULTED IN BOTH LOWER STRENGTH AND PERCENT ELONGATION THAN ENZYME-RETTED FIBER COMPOSITES.

Technical Abstract: MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES GENERATED EACH YEAR CONTAIN POTENTIALLY USEFUL AND RECYCLABLE MATERIALS FOR COMPOSITES. SIMULTANEOUSLY, INTEREST IS HIGH FOR THE USE OF NATURAL FIBERS, SUCH AS FLAX (LINUM USITATISSIMUM L.), IN COMPOSITES THUS PROVIDING COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS. TO INVESTIGATE THE UTILITY OF THESE MATERIALS, COMPOSITES CONTAINING FLAX FIBERS WITH RECYCLED HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (HDPE) WERE CREATED AND COMPARED WITH SIMILAR PRODUCTS MADE WITH WOOD PULP, GLASS, AND CARBON FIBERS. FLAX WAS EITHER ENZYME- OR DEW-RETTED TO OBSERVE COMPOSITE PROPERTY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIVERSE LEVELS OF ENZYME FORMULATIONS AND RETTING TECHNIQUES. COUPLING AGENTS WOULD STRENGTHEN BINDING BETWEEN FIBERS AND HDPE BUT IN THIS STUDY FIBERS WERE NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY TO OBSERVE MECHANICAL PROPERTY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NATURAL FIBER COMPOSITES. COMPOSITES WITH FLAX FIBERS FROM VARIOUS RETTING METHODS, I.E., DEW- VS. ENZYME-RETTING, BEHAVED DIFFERENTLY; DEW-RETTED FIBER COMPOSITES RESULTED IN BOTH LOWER STRENGTH AND PERCENT ELONGATION. THE LOWEST LEVEL OF ENZYME-RETTING AND MOST ECONOMICAL PROCESS PRODUCES COMPOSITES THAT DO NOT APPEAR TO DIFFER FROM THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ENZYME-RETTING. FLAX FIBERS IMPROVED THE MODULUS OF ELASTICITY OVER WOOD PULP AND HDPE ALONE AND WERE LESS DENSE THAN GLASS OR CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES. LIKELY, DIFFERENCES IN SURFACE PROPERTIES OF THE VARIOUS FLAX FIBERS, WHILE POORLY DEFINED AND REQUIRING FURTHER RESEARCH, CAUSED VARIOUS INTERACTIONS WITH THE RESIN THAT INFLUENCED COMPOSITE PROPERTIES.