Eco-friendly date-seed nanofillers for polyethylene terephthalate composite reinforcement

Abstract Polymer composites have been widely exploited in numerous industries. Micro-particle fillers are typically added as reinforcement materials to improve the characteristics of these composites. In this work, organic nanoparticles of date seeds were added as a filler for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to produce enhanced polymer nanocomposites. A date-seed nanofiller (DSN) was prepared and examined with x-ray diffraction measurements, and then added to PET by hot compression. The characteristics of the PET-DSN composite were experimentally investigated through tests of mass loss, compressive strength, and Vickers micro-hardness. The PET-DSN microstructure was inspected using a scanning electron microscope and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results show chemical stability of the PET-DSN composite. Moreover, key mechanical properties of the composite, namely hardness, compressive strength and wear resistance, were improved and optimized with a DSN reinforcement of 0.75 wt%.