EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON SURFACE MORPHOLOGY, DENSITY AND RELATIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (HDPE)/NATURAL RUBBER (NR) BIOCOMPOSITES

Abstract

This study examines the surface morphology, density and relative dielectric constant of three formulations of HDPE/NR prior to further development of HDPE/NR/ Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB), HDPE/NR/Pineapple Leaf (PAL) and HDPE/NR/Coconut Coir (CC). The used weight percentages of the EFB, PAL and CC fillers in this study were 10 wt. %, 20 wt. % and 30 wt. %. HDPE/NR/EFB, HDPE/NR/PAL and HDPE/NR/CC were prepared using a two-rotor mill blending method. It is known that the presence of biocomposite filler in base can affect the density, relative dielectric constant (permittivity) and as well as the surface morphology. This study also found that the PAL filler had about 12% lower density at 20 wt. % compared with EFB and CC fillers of the same weight percentage. In contrast to PAL and CC fillers, the EFB filler had a lower relative dielectric constant of about 8.7% at 4.5 Hz. Future work can focus on enhancing the production of a lower space charge accumulation