Perfection of a composite material reinforced by a natural filler modified by a gamma irradiation treatment

Abstract

Olive residue flour (ORF) were irradiated at doses of 10, 25, 50 and 70 (kGy) and incorporated in Poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) in different ratios of 10/90 and 20/80 (wt ORF %/PVC wt%) for the preparation of composites. Mechanical behaviors of those composites such as tensile strength and elongation at break have been, assessed. The composite samples prepared with the untreated filler present a decrease of elongation and tensile strength. This decrease is, attributed to the low interfacial adhesion between the filler, which have a strong affinity for water (hydrophilic strength) and the PVC hydrophobic surface. However, the composite filled with ORF treated with gamma irradiation exhibit higher elongation and tensile strength than those of un-irradiated composites. This is, attributed to the decrease in the hydrophilicity of the olive residue flour after gamma-irradiation treatment. The results of the mechanical behavior shown by the structure morphology observation indicate an improvement of the ORF dispersion as seen through Scanning Electron Microscopy. The water-absorption test of different composites shows that irradiated filler composites present less water uptake than those of unirradiated composite.