Study on the rheological properties of LLDPE/CaCO3 plasticized with the fatty acid extracted from hogwash oil

The reaction in linear low density polyethylene/Calcium carbonate (LLDPE/CaCO3) melting blend system with the presence of fatty acid extracted from Hogwash oil (HWOFA) was investigated by means of a Torque Rheometer during compounding. The characteristics of the products were evaluated by DSC and Universal Testing machine. The results showed that the maximum torque and equilibrium torque of the LLDPE/CaCO3 blends with addition of 15wt% HWOFA decreased respectively by 23.83% and 27.55% which were lower than that without HWOFA. The tensile strength decreased by 23.94 % and the elongation at break increased by 16.88%. The compatibility became poor with addition of more than 15wt% HWOFA. The above results indicated that the fatty acid extracted from Hogwash oil can be used as a lower-cost plasticizer, which provides a new method of utilization of Hogwash oil.