The effect of particle dispersion due to mixing speed on spent coffee ground composites

Abstract

Composites using bio-materials with unique properties such as spent coffee ground were developed for composite fillers. Research was conducted to produce samples for a variation of mixing speeds and determine the changes in its dispersion of its particles and quantifying the homogeneity. Composite dispersion is determined by an index based on standard deviation of free-path spacing of filler particles using a digital microscope. Variations occurred mainly for lower speeds in one-minute time period and decreases as the mixing speed increases. Particle distribution is more agglomerated with particle clumps for high-speed mixing. Homogeneity index is lower when using faster speed mixing, showing that for a shorter time period, faster mixing leads to a more homogeneous mixture and it would require longer time periods for low-speed mixing to achieve similar homogeneity levels.