The Study of mechanical and morphological properties of recycled polyethylene/saw dust from cutting of MDF composites

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using recycled polyethylene on the mechanical properties of PE-MDF composite. Saw dust as a filler at 30%and MAPE as coupling agent at two levels of 0 and 2 wt% were mixed in an internal mixer and the samples were prepared by injection molding method.. Mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural (Strength and Modulus) were measured. Morphology of composite was also evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although virgin polyethylene has better mechanical properties than once and twice recycled polyethylene, but with the addition of sawdust as filler consisting of recycled polyethylene composites mechanical properties significantly higher than that virgin polyethylene. The results of mechanical properties showed improvement by the addition of MAPE. The SEM micrographs showed that the use of twice recycled polyethylene and MAPE has led to better interactions between matrix and filler. The melt flow index (MFI) indicated that with increasing number of recycled polyethylene, melt flow index increased. Therefore with attention to the results of mechanical properties can be stated that by increasing the melt flow index had a positive effect on composite construction.