Thermal, mechanical, morphological, thermogravimetric, rheological and toxicological behavior of HDPE/seaweed residues composites

The objective of this research was to study the thermal, mechanical, rheological and toxicological behavior of high-density polyethylene composites filled with seaweed residues (SR) at different compositions (10, 20, 30, 40 wt%), using Lica 12 as coupling agent at concentrations between 0 and 1.0 wt%. From the thermal analysis, it can be inferred that crystallinity increased with filler content as well as crystallization temperatures. The initial decomposition temperature of materials did not show significant changes varying between 482 and 485 °C. Regarding the mechanical behavior, a slight increase in Young’s modulus from 652 to 738 MPa was observed. Elongation at break decreased drastically from 1000% to 20% while strength at break remained approximately constant. Melt flow index decreased from 5.08 to 3.57 g/10 min. Based on the results, it is possible to select any filler content as a candidate for bone substitute material. Therefore, for toxicity studies we chose 40% composite. The inclusion of SR in polymeric matrix proved to be biocompatible with animal tissue, showing no adverse reactions, which allows its possible application in biomedicine.