PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ULTRAFINE CLAY-WOOD DUST HYBRID REINFORCED RECYCLED POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE MATRIX COMPOSITE FOR SEMI-STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS

This research involves the production of polymer matrix composites as a combination of ultrafine clay, wood dust and recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) where the matrix is recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate, and the dispersed phase (hybrid fillers) are ultrafine clay and wood dust. The proportion of recycled PET used for composite production varied from 97 wt% - 99 wt%, while that of wood dust varied from 0.5 wt% - 2 wt% and ultrafine clay from 0.5 wt% - 2 wt%. Physical tests including porosity, water absorption and flammability tests were also carried out on the developed samples. Results obtained from physical tests revealed that the densities of ultrafine clay-wood dust hybrid reinforced recycled PET composites (1.051 - 1.209 g/cm3) were relatively higher than those of ultrafine clay reinforced recycled PET composites and wood dust reinforced recycled PET composite. The WD2 composite sample has the least experimental density value of 0.793 g/cm3. The percentage water absorption rate of the wood dust reinforced recycled PET composites were relatively higher than the ultrafine clay reinforced recycled PET composites. The percentage water absorption rate of the hybrid reinforced recycled PET composites were in between those of the wood dust reinforced and ultrafine clay reinforced fillers. The UFC0.5 composite sample (0.5 wt% ultrafine clay, 0 wt% wood dust reinforced 99.5 wt% recycled PET composite sample) has the least percentage water absorption value of 0.12846535 when compared to other samples. The porosity of the hybrid reinforced recycled PET composite samples were relatively lower than the control sample and separately reinforced samples with ultrafine clay and wood dust. However, HB1 composite sample has the least % porosity value of 1.1563. UFC2 has the least flame propagation rate of value of 0.05482456 mm/s. Keywords: Ultrafine Clay, Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate, Polymer Matrix Composite, Wood Dust.