ORIGINAL PAPER Properties of recycled high-density polyethylene/water hyacinth fiber composites: the effect of different concentration of compatibilizer S. J. Tan 1,2 • A. G. Supri 1 • K. M. Chong 3 Received: 22 January 2015 / Revised: 27 March 2015 / Accepted: 9 April 2015 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 Abstract The effect of different concentrations of polyethylene-grafted-maleic anhydride (PE-g-MAH) in recycled high-density polyethylene/water hyacinth fiber (rHDPE/WHF) composites was studied. RHDPE/WHF composites with different concentrations of PE-g-MAH were prepared using Z-blade mixer at 180 °C with the rotor speed of 50 rpm. The results indicated 6 wt% of PE-g-MAH showed the highest tensile strength and Young’s modulus but lowest water absorption compared to other concentration of PE-g-MAH. The SEM morphology of 6 wt% of PE-g- MAH displayed better fiber dispersion and less fiber pull out than other concen- tration of PE-g-MAH. Moreover, FTIR analysis also showed the presence of ester carbonyl group and reduction of OH group in rHDPE/WHF PE-g-MAH composites than uncompatibilized composites. Keywords Recycled high-density polyethylene Á Compatibilizer Á Water hyacinth fiber & S. J. Tan sjtan@unimap.edu.my 1 Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), P.O Box 77, D/A Pejabat Pos Besar, 01000 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia 2 Center of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technology, School of Materials Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 01007, P.O Box 77, D/A Pejabat Pos Besar, Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia 3 School of Materials Engineering, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 2, Taman Muhibbah, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Jejawi, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia 123 Polym. Bull. DOI 10.1007/s00289-015-1387-3