Effect of nanoclay-particles on physical and mechanical properties of composites made of almond shell powder-polypropylene

In this research, the effect of nanoclay-particles on physical and mechanical properties of composites made using almond shell powder-polypropylene was studied. For this purpose, almond shell powder and nanoclay were used in three levels of 30%, 35% and 40% for almond and 0%, 2.5% and 5% for nanoclay. In addition, 2% of Maleic Anhydride Polypropylene was added to all compositions. Then, wood-plastic nano-composite was formed using counter-rotating twin screw extruder and injection molding machine. Mechanical test including tensile, flexural, impact resistance, hardness and physical properties including water Absorption and Thickness Swelling after 2h and 24h immersion in water were measured. In addition X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) experiment was carried out to reveal how clay nano-particles are distributed across the manufactured composites and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was also performed to investigate fracture surfaces. The results indicated that the presence of nano-clay did not influence the flexural and tensile elasticity modulus, and the presence of nano-clay reduced tensile and flexural resistance. The hardness and density of composites were higher than pure plastic and the impact resistance of all composites was lower than pure plastic. The presence of nano-clay did not significantly effect the physical properties of the composites (p< 0.05).The diffraction model of X-ray showed that nano-composite forms intercalation interlayer structure and the results of morphological investigation revealed that the samples containing 2.5 percent nano-clay and 35 percent of almond shell have the highest array of intercalation and the best transmittance.