ABSTRACT
The polymer blends obtained with residues that before were called wastes has been growing as a viable solution, allowing improvements in the mechanical properties and as sustainable alternative. This work reports the effects of blends of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and natural rubber (NR), with sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) as filler, with and without polyethylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PE-g-MA) how coupling agent. The dynamic mechanical behavior and a stress-strain analysis were studied. The materials were further evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry and morphological observations. The results showed that incorporation of the PE-g-MA reduced the strain and improved the stress and the Young module of the mixtures. Moreover, the presence of SCBA increased the hardness while maintaining the tensile strength and the elongation behavior of the polymer. The results demonstrate the potential use of SCBA in the elastomer and thermoplastic mixture, free of vulcanization agents.
Keywords
Sustainable blends; sugarcane bagasse ashes; natural rubber; low density polyethylene; polyethylene-graft-maleic anhydride
