Tensile Properties, Water Resistance, and Thermal Properties of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Kenaf Composites: Effect of 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl Methacrylate (TMS) as a Silane Coupling Agent

Abstract

aComposites containing linear low-density polyethylene/polyvinyl alcohol and various loadings of kenaf fiber were prepared using a Haake internal mixer. The loading of kenaf fiber varied from 10 to 40 parts per hundred resin (phr). The coupling agent 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMS) was evaluated for its effect on the processing torque, tensile properties, morphology, water resistance, and thermal properties of the composites. Composites without TMS were used as the control. The composites made from TMS-treated kenaf yielded higher stabilization torque, tensile strength, tensile modulus, water resistance, and thermal properties than the control composites. The improvements were attributed to the coupling effect of TMS.

Utilization of Polypropylene Film as an Adhesive to Prepare Formaldehyde-free, Weather-resistant Plywood-like Composites: Process Optimization, Performance Evaluation, and Interface Modification

“…5, there can be esterification between the O-H group of wood and the maleic anhydride group of MAPP (Yang et al 2007), while there can be condensation between the O-H group of wood and the O-H group of silanol hydrolyzed from APTES (Pang et al 2016). The condensation in APTES modification can also occur among different silanols .…”

“…5) to the wood surface, which can give hydrophilic wood veneer higher interface compatibility with hydrophobic PP film, and result in stronger interactions at the wood veneer/PP film composites interface (Yang et al 2007;Cui et al 2016;Pang et al 2016;Yan et al 2016;Yin et al 2016).…”

“…According to available reports on NFRPCs, interface modifiers such as silane and maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin can be used to treat hydrophilic natural fiber. The bi-functional chemical structure of the interface modifiers can consume hydrophilic groups and introduce hydrophobic groups on the fiber surface, thus enhancing the interface compatibility between fiber and plastic (Yang et al 2007;Pang et al 2016). As inspired by NFRPCs, the effect of a silane modifier on properties of wood veneer/PE film composites has been investigated (Fang et al , 2016.…”

Linear Low Density Polyethylene/Poly (Vinyl Alcohol)/Kenaf Composites: Effect of Natural Weathering on Functional Group, Weight Loss Characteristics, Tensile, Morphological and Thermal Properties

“…where is the heat of fusion for fully crystalline LLDPE (290 J/g) (Ismail et al 2009) (C-C, C-OH, CH vibrations) and 898-719 cm -1 (CH and CH 2 stretching vibration) (Onggo & Pujiastuti 2010;Pang et al 2016;Sarifuddin et al 2014). Moreover, all peaks (1245, 1144-1056, 990, 898-719 cm -1 ) belong to cellulose, hemicelluloses or lignin of KNF (Harini & Harsojo 2014;Pang et al 2017).…”

“…Tensile modulus displays a similar trend with tensile strength and elongation at break. The introduction of KNF has increased the stiffness of LLDPE/PVOH matrices, and this stiffening effect increased with the loading of KNF (Pang et al 2016). However, after being exposed to natural weathering, it is visible that the tensile modulus showed a decline trend and it continued to decline after a longer exposure period (6 months).…”