Thermal Degradation of Natural Fiber-reinforced Polypropylene Composites

Abstract

The objective of the present article was to study the thermal degradation behavior of natural fiber polypropylene composites. Composite materials composed of 50% various natural fibers (wood flour, rice hulls, newsprint, and kenaf fibers) and polypropylene were studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effect of compatibilzer on the thermal stability of the composites was also evaluated. Contributions of components of one composite formulation to thermal degradation were also evaluated. It was found that among natural fibers, rice hulls were the least thermally stable ones in a polypropylene matrix. The compatibilizer slightly reduced thermal stability while enhancing fiber-matrix interaction and fractional crystallinity. The overall thermal degradation profile of the composite materials was found to be a more or less arithmetic average of those of the components.

Tensile properties of plant fibre‐polymer composites in fire

“…Many studies have measured the reductions to the failure stress of plant fibres at elevated temperatures, and similar trends have been reported to those shown in Figure . However, the tensile properties of fibre tows may differ from their respective individual filaments at room and elevated temperatures because of the influences of fibre architecture (eg, twist angle and fibril lengths).…”

Natural fibers

“…The other major limitation in exploiting the use of natural fibers is the limited thermal stability which leads to degradation during processing beyond 200°C [112]. To resolve this issue, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) (melt flow index (MFI) = 120 g/10 min, 190°C/2.16 kg) was purchased from DuPont New Zealand Limited and added during compounding as a fiber and matrix modification.…”

Study on the effects of wood flour geometry on physical and mechanical properties of wood-plastic composites

“…The more the value is, the more energy the specimen absorbs (Steckel et al 2007, Tajvidi andTakemura 2010). Impact resistance tests showed higher values in larger-size wood flour (mesh 20) when the sawdust content was higher ( Figure 5).…”