With the advancement toward global sustainability, there is a widespread
demand for sustainable materials that can be used for various applications. Carbon has
gained much attention in the past few decades due to its scope of utilization in energy
and environment related applications. Biomass resources are considered a prominent
precursor for the synthesis of carbon-based materials due to their availability and
economic viability. In this study, high-quality graphitic carbon is synthesized from
Coconut Shell Powder (CSP) by pyrolysis and reinforced into a low-density
polyethylene (LDPE) matrix for fabricating films for packaging applications. A
custom-built high-temperature autogenic pressure reactor was used for conducting the
pyrolysis to synthesize carbon from the coconut shell powder and a blown film
extruder was used for fabricating composite films. For preparing the films, coconut
shell powder-derived carbon was added to the LDPE matrix at various weight percent
loadings of 0.25, 0.5, and 1 wt.%, respectively. Various analytical techniques such as
scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy,
thermogravimetric analysis, tensile test, and differential scanning calorimetry were
used for studying the properties of carbon and LDPE/carbon composite films. Upon
adding carbon as fillers, there were significant improvements in the tensile and thermal
degradation properties of the polymer carbon composite films. Upon the incorporation
of carbon into the LDPE matrix, the crystallinity and tensile strength were found to
improve by a maximum of 29% and 13%, respectively.
Keywords: Biochar, Blow Films, Coconut Shell Powder, Film Extrusion, Food Packaging, LDPE, Low-density polyethylene, Raman, SEM, XRD.
