Water transport kinetics and thickness swelling behavior of natural fiber-reinforced HDPE/CNT nanocomposites

This study mainly focused on investigating the effect of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the long-term hygroscopic behavior of composites based on old corrugated container (OCC) and high density polyethylene (HDPE). Composite profiles were made by melt compounding and then injection molding. For CNT as a reinforcing agent, different loading levels of 0, 1, 3 and 5 phc was used. The amount of HDPE and coupling agent was fixed at 50 wt% and 2 phc for all formulations, respectively. The governing kinetic behavior of water transport in the studied composites was examined by immersing them in water at room temperature for several weeks, and water diffusion coefficients were also calculated by evaluating the water absorption isotherms. In addition, a predictive model for determining the thickness swelling rate of the samples was developed by Shi and Gardner model. Results indicated that the composites filled with CNT had considerably lower water absorption compared with those samples without ones. The absorption processes for all families of composites were found to exhibit Fickian diffusion behavior. It was found that that equilibrium thickness swelling and also shorter equilibrium time (the time to reach the equilibrium thickness swelling) decreased with increase of CNT loading. Furthermore, the swelling model provided a good predictor of the hygroscopic thickness swelling process of HDPE/OCC/CNT hybrid composites. Also, a good linear relationship was fit between swelling rate parameter (KSR) and CNT contents. The minimum KSR values were observed in composites made of 5 phc CNT.