Study of Composites Produced with Recovered Polypropylene and Piassava Fiber

Abstract

This work addresses the use of piassava fibers (PF) as reinforcement for recovered polypropylene (PPr) in the manufacturing of composites. The composites were molded with variable amounts of PF (10, 20 and 30 wt%), with and without maleic anhydride functionalized polypropylene (MAPP) (10 wt%) as compatibilizer. The composites were characterized using mechanical tests (flexural, tensile, impact and hardness), thermal analyses (thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry), along with evaluations of heat deflection temperature, melting flow index, density and morphology. Tensile and flexural strength of composites increased with PF content, but impact strength decreased, since the material became stiffer. The use of MAPP in the formulations yielded superior properties, showing good fiber/matrix interaction. In all, the use of PF as reinforcement in PPr was considered an interesting way of reducing solid waste and to reinforce plastics, being a possible alternative for the substitution of wood in WPC composites.

Recycled Polypropylene-Coffee Husk and Coir Coconut Biocomposites: Morphological, Mechanical, Thermal and Environmental Studies

“…CHF presented a higher cellulose content On the other hand, CHF and CCF fibers addition generate slight improvements (1 and 8%) on the flexural strength (FS) compared to neat r-PP. These results agree with previous studies found in literature [58][59][60]. However, for both r-PP-fiber biocomposites, MAPP addition causes an increase in FS of 16% in comparison with r-PP.…”

“…Impact test results shows that CHF and CCF addition cause a decrease on the impact strength of 37 and 6%, respectively, in comparison with the r-PP. Similar results were reported by several studies about the morphology and mechanical properties of PP-natural fiber biocomposites [60][61][62][63]. However, for r-PP-CHF and r-PP-CCF, an increase on the impact strength of 35 and 44% was observed.…”

Application of Wall and Insulation Materials on Green Building: A Review

“…Brazilian curauá fiber was made into strain-hardening cementitious composites that promote distributed microcracking and strain-hardening behavior [71]. The satisfactory performance of piassava fibers with good mechanical properties (Table 3) proved their potential use in WPC (Wood plastic composite) [60]. Water-retted kenaf fibers were used as reinforcement in mortar composites [72].…”

Properties and Morphology of Polypropylene/Big Bags Compounds

“…This serious scenario has worried the society and specifically the scientific community who has researched solutions for reusing and recycling these materials once they result in great problems mainly when improperly discarded in the environment and consequently, become a harmful material to the ecological system 3,4 . Consequently, there is an urgent requirement to develop "new products" made from residues i.e., with the insertion of post-consumer resins, in order to minimize the use of the virgin polymer, reducing costs and the disposal of materials [5][6][7][8][9] .…”