Effect of nanographene oxide and ionizing radiation on mechanical, physical, and thermal properties of composites based on high-density polyethylene and waste bagasse fibers

The impact of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticle content and exposure to electron beam (EB) on the tensile, dynamic mechanical, water uptake, and thermal properties of high-density polyethylene/bagasse fibers composite was investigated. The GO was added at different loading levels: 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 parts per hundred parts of plastic (php), while 2 doses of EB were used (100 and 200 kGy). The influence of adding 10 php of carbon black (CB) to the HDPE/BF was also investigated. The addition of GO and irradiation up to 100 kGy, along with the inclusion of 10 php of CB, led to improvements in tensile strength, elastic modulus, storage modulus, and hardness. The composite containing 1 php of GO and exposed to 100 kGy, demonstrated the highest tensile strength value, with a 47.3% improvement compared with the unirradiated one. This composite also, exhibited the lowest values of water absorption percent (3.7%) and diffusion coefficient (0.007 mm2/h) compared with the unirradiated HDPE/BF composite. These results suggest that the resulting composite has potential for use in advanced industrial applications due to its improved physicomechanical properties.Highlights Composites based on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and bagasse fibers (BF) were fabricated The incorporation of graphene oxide (GO) improved the mechanical properties. GO and electron beam (EB) irradiation enhanced the water resistance of HDPE/BF composite. Both GO and EB increased the thermal stability of HDPE/BF composite.