Preparation of Linear Low-density Polyethylene/Treated Date Palm Leaflet Green Composites and Investigation of their Thermal and Mechanical Properties

This work aims to develop green linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) composites that are commercially viable due to the low cost of the date palm leaflet filler, which is a local renewable resource. The filler was naturally treated with gum arabic solution. FT-IR, XRD, and SEM techniques were used to characterize the samples. The thermal and mechanical properties were measured by TGA, DSC, and tensile testing. The results showed noticeable changes in the properties of the composites compared to those of the original LLDPE sample. TGA revealed TGA revealed that the composite started thermally. The composites started thermally degrading before the original polymer, owing to the degradation of the natural components in the filler. The findings from DSC suggested that the crystallinity was affected. The tensile testing results indicated that the composites were appropriate for applications requiring low tensile strength at break and high Young's modulus. A comparison of these results with earlier ones exhibited that the basic additives in the polymer may have an effect on the filler performance.