The Effect of the Addition of Sage () and Lucerne () on the Strength Parameters of a Polymer-Based Composite and Socio-Economic Analysis.

Polymer composites are of considerable interest due to the possibility of improving the performance parameters of plastics. The filler is a component whose introduction into the rubber mixture can affect the physicochemical and functional properties of the composite. It is present in the largest quantity in the mixture, so its type is of significant importance in the polymer composite production process. Currently, much attention is being paid to the potential use of various materials as fillers to improve the properties of composites. These materials should, among other things, exhibit good adhesion to the polymer matrix and a high degree of dispersion. One example of such a material is dried plant material. In this group, dried leaves of two plants-sage () and lucerne ()-were introduced into a rubber mixture in several different content variants. The mixtures were subjected to durability and aging tests and the results were compared with a mixture without any plant additives. Of all the test variants with plant filler, the best results were obtained with the lowest proportion of dried plant material, which was 5 Parts per Hundred Rubber (PHR). In this case, most parameters remained at a level similar to the variant without additives. A slight improvement was observed in elongation at break for the mixture with sage (from 550% to 559%), while in the case of the mixture with lucerne, the color improved (from 1.21 to 0.94). Some parameters of vulcanization characteristics and tensile strength deteriorated. For the latter parameter, a decrease of 11% was noted for the mixture with sage (from 4.65 MPa to 4.13 MPa) and 18% for the mixture with lucerne (to 3.82 MPa). Interestingly, as a result of the ageing of the samples, a significant part of the mixtures with dried plants obtained better results in the case of tensile strength than before ageing. This applies especially to the following variants: 30 PHR for the mixture with sage (an increase of 48%) and 5 PHR for the mixture with alfalfa (an increase of 15%). In general, it should be noted that the functional parameters deteriorated with the increase in the proportion of plant additives.