The mechanical properties and morphology of polypropylene/wood flour (PP/WF) composites with different impact modifiers and maleated polypropylene (MAPP) as a compatibilizer have been studied. Two different ethylene/propylene/diene terpolymers (EPDM) and one maleated styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene triblock copolymer (SEBS-MA) have been used as impact modifiers in the PP/WF systems. All three...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of coupling agent loading on the natural durability of wood flour/polypropylene composites against white-rot fungi (Trametes versicolor). The blend composites were prepared through the melt mixing of wood flour/polypropylene at 50% weight ratios, with various amounts of compatibilizer (0, 2 and 4 per hundred compounds (phc)) in hake internal m...

In this study, oil palm empty fruit bunch fibres (EFB) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared by two different methods i.e. physical treatment of the composites using electron beam irradiation and chemical treatment by adding coupling agent such as maleated PP. The composites pellets were then subjected to injection moulding for preparation of test pieces for physical, mechanica...

Nanocomposites of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and date wood fiber were prepared after modification of the host matrix by reactive extrusion grafting of maleic anhydride. Chemical and mechanical treatment of date wood flour (WF) was conducted to obtain nanocrystalline cellulose. Layered silicates (clay) were partially intercalated with date wood fiber, and the modified layered silicate was use...

The tensile properties of multiscale, hybrid, thermoplastic-based nanocomposites reinforced with nano-CaCO3 particles and micro–short glass fibers (SGF) were predicted by a two-step, three-dimensionalmodel using ANSYS finite element (FE) software. Cylindrical and cuboid representative volume elements were generated to obtain the effective behavior of the multiscale hybrid composites. In the fir...

A new treating method using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and Maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (MPP) emulsion was introduced to treat jute fiber mat in order to enhance the performance of jute/polypropylene (PP) composite prepared by film stacking method. The surface modifications of jute fiber mat have been found to be very effective in improving the fiber-matrix adhesion. It was shown that tr...

Worldwide cultivation of corn is expanding, due in part to the increasing production of bioethanol. In consequence, huge amounts of corn stalks residues are been produced. Instead of incineration, we transformed the corn stalks into a semichemical pulp and successfully applied it as reinforcement in polypropylene composites. PP composites reinforced with 40% wt corn stalk single fibers were pre...

The fracture behaviour of polymers is strongly affected by the addition of rigid particles. Several features of the particles have a decisive influence on the values of the fracture toughness: shape and size, chemical nature, surface nature, concentration by volume, and orientation. Among those of thermoplastic matrix, polypropylene (PP) composites are the most industrially employed for many di...

The development of environmental friendly engineering material has received top priority recently. Glass fiber (GF) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites is one of the most widely used materials in the automotive industry due to its favourable properties. However, the presence of GF has become a major issue in the recycling of GF/PP composites. Considerable efforts have been devoted to find ...

This work investigates the feasibility of using recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE), recycled polypropylene (rPP) and old newsprint fiber (ONP) to manufacture fiber reinforced composites. The boards were made through air-forming and hot press. The effects of the fiber loading and coupling agent content on tensile, flexural, internal bond properties and water absorption and thickness swel...