EFFECT OF QUAIL EGGSHELL FILLER ON THE ABRASION RESISTANCE AND THERMAL DEGRADATION OF ROOMTEMPERATURE VULCANIZING SILICONE RUBBER

Eggshells, which are mainly composed of calcium carbonate, have been considered as alternative filler in polymer composites to reduce cost and improve some of the material properties.One of the biofillers that has not yet widely studied for its potential use in rubber is quail eggshell.For this research study, the effects of quail eggshell filler on the abrasion resistance and thermal degradation of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone rubber were investigated.Samples with 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt.% quail eggshell filler were prepared through manual mixing and open molding process.Abrasion resistance test was performed based on ASTM D4060 while thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis was utilized to examine thermal degradation.Results revealed that the abrasion resistance of silicone rubber increases as the eggshell filler content rises from 0 to 15 wt.%.The silicone rubber with 15 wt.% filler achieved the best abrasion resistance with a mass loss of about 44.7 % less than the sample without filler.For the thermal analysis, the sample with 15 wt.% eggshell filler achieved a higher peak degradation temperature of about 605.61 o C as compared to the plain sample (511.25 o C) but the latter appears to resist thermal degradation better at high temperatures.