Exploitation of waste date seeds of Phoenix dactylifera in form of polymeric particle biocomposite: Investigation on adhesion, cohesion and wear

An interaction of polymers with biological fillers can optimize their mechanical properties or it can lead to a possibility to substitute commonly used both biological as well as synthetic materials, e.g. wood. The paper focuses on a possibility to exploit the waste from a process of date fruit processing - the plant Phoenix dactylifera - represented by a stone and residues of flesh in a form of biocomposites with a technologically undemanding process of a preparation. A description of adhesive and cohesive characteristics belongs to factors influencing the application area of these materials. Variable concentrations 0.5-10.0 wt % of microparticles prepared from the fruits - dates - in a form of the stones and the flesh in the epoxy resin were experimentally tested. The particles did not significantly decrease the adhesive characteristics of the resin. The low concentration of the filler did not decrease the cohesion of the system, it came up to 10.8% increase of the shear strength and up to 11% increase of the wear resistance at the specific concentrations of used biofillers. The date stone-based particles increased the abrasive wear resistance. SEM was used for the evaluation of a morphology of particles and a fracture surface analysis.