Fabrication and properties of flame retardant composites made of abandoned peanut hull, polypropylene and thermoplastic polyurethanes

Abstract

In order to make possible recycling agriculture waste and decrease the environment pollution caused by high polymer, flame retardant composites made of abandoned peanut hull as reinforced materials, abandoned PP (polypropylene) and abandoned TPU (thermoplastic polyurethanes) as matrix materials and magnesium hydroxide as flame retardant reagent were discussed in this article. And the mechanical properties and flame retardant properties of composites were tested and analyzed by orthogonal experiment and single factor analysis experiments. And the optimized processing conditions were concluded as follows: mass fraction of peanut hull 40 %, ratio of PP and TPU 3:1, hot pressing temperature 170 °C, hot pressing pressure 12 MPa, hot pressing time 10 min, and plasticizing time 5 min. Under above conditions, properties of composites were as follow: density 1.12 g/cm3, tensile strength 23.85 MPa, bending strength 46.29 MPa and impact energy absorption 10.19 kJ/m2. Besides, with magnesium hydroxide whose dosage was 100 % (compared to the matrix) being added under the optimized processing conditions, the mechanical properties and flame retardant properties of composites were as follow: LOI 29.7, density 1.27 g/cm3, tensile strength 10.37 MPa, bending strength 29.42 MPa and impact energy absorption 3.85 kJ/m2.