The use of environmental friendly materials that are renewable play valuable roles in reinforcements as natural fillers. This
study examined the effect of using sea crab shell particles as reinforcing material in high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The
composites were produced by varying the sea crab shell particles at 10, 20 and 30 wt.%. The elemental composition of the sea
crab shell was determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). The results of the XRF analysis showed that
pulverized sea crab shell particles contains Ca, Al, Si and Fe as the major constituents while Mg, P2, Ti, K2, and Na2 were
present in traces. The physical and mechanical properties of the reinforced HDPE were also determined. As the particle
content increased from 10 to 30%, the density of the composite was observed to increase from 0.95 to 1.1091g/cm3.The tensile
strength obtained increased from 15.36 to 17.91 MPa at 10% particle loading. The Young’s modulus increased in proportion
to increase in particle loading while the percentage elongation decreased. The impact strength also decreased with particles
content. Furthermore, the flexural strength increased though the best result was obtained at 20%. The obtained results of the
developed composites showed that sea crab shell particles is a viable reinforcement for polymer- matrix composite.
Key words: Sea crab shell, HDPE, X-ray fluorescence, reinforcement.
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