Effect of solid–state modified polypropylene on the physical performance of sawdust–filled polypropylene composites

Abstract

The influence of solid-state modified polypropylene on the physical performance of uncoated or thermoset-resin coated sawdust-filled polypropylene composites was studied. The effect of composition of the composites on tensile strength, Young's modulus, tensile toughness, elongation, and impact strength was determined through two 23 factorial rotatable designs. The results of this investigation show that both the rn-phenylene dismaleimide-modified polypropylene precompounded sawdust as well as solid-state modified maleated polypropylene can be successfully used to prepare sawdust-filled polypropylene composites with good tensile strength. On the whole, this property improved compared to that of unfilled polypropylene. According to the analysis of factorial design, the optimum composition to prepare a composite with highest tensile strength within the experimental range was 30-40 wt% phenolic resin coated sawdust together with 4-6 wt% solid-state modified maleated polypropylene; while the product composition for the worst design was a combination of high amount of phenolic resin modified polypropylene with phenolic resin coated sawdust. The experimental design also concluded that effect of compositions on impact strength of composites was not significant in most of the cases. Overall, the empirical models constructed in this study provided a good approximation to actual experimental measurements; we are encouraged to extend this approach to processing conditions for manufacturing these composites.

New Developments in Reactive Processing of Thermoplastic Composites

“…Usually, a minor interaction between chain molecules might help to facilitate the energy transfer due to the application of sudden impact stress, a strong chemical and/or physico-chemical interaction between PP chains could prevent the uniform stress distribution throughout the composite matrix due to the loss of the chain mobility. This observation also supports our earlier presumption that a chemical reaction between PP and BI as proposed by Said and Cacti [7]. Figure 11 compares the IR spectra for BMI modified composite with that of unmodified ones for two different BMI concentrations.…”

“…Several methods have been reported to improve interfacial interaction in polymer-filler composites [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Most of those methods use polymeric interface modifiers and/or multifunctional reactive monomers in conjunction with a suitable catalyst system to initiate the reactive modification process.…”

“…Most of those methods use polymeric interface modifiers and/or multifunctional reactive monomers in conjunction with a suitable catalyst system to initiate the reactive modification process. Both maleic anhydride [7,8] and bismaleimide derivatives [9] had been used in the past to improve the strength and thermal resistance of composites and polymer blends. Both maleic anhydride [7,8] and bismaleimide derivatives [9] had been used in the past to improve the strength and thermal resistance of composites and polymer blends.…”

Effect of coupling agents on rice‐husk‐filled HDPE extruded profiles

“…As is the case with any other lignocellulosic‐based plastic composite, the major concern of the rice husk filler is the relatively poor compatibility with hydrophobic thermoplastics which in turn leads to poor mechanical properties. Coupling agents are generally used to modify the fiber–matrix interface and thereby enhance the fiber–matrix adhesion and extensive research work has been carried out in this area 17–21. In the present study the effect of four coupling agents on various properties of extruded rice‐husk‐filled high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite profiles was explored.…”

Enhancement of Processability of Rice Husk Filled High-density Polyethylene Composite Profiles

“…Coupling agents are generally used to modify the fiber-matrix interface and thereby enhance the fiber-matrix adhesion. Extensive research work has been carried out on interface modification in natural fiber reinforced composites using external coupling agents [17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”