Influence of Fiber Treatment on the Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Sawdust Reinforced Polypropylene Composites

In the present work, sawdust reinforced polypropylene composites were fabricated using an extruder and an injection molding machine. Raw sawdust was chemically treated with benzene diazonium salt in order to improve the mechanical properties of the composites. The effect of the chemically treated sa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of polymers and the environment 2010-09, Vol.18 (3), p.443-450
Main Authors: Rezaur Rahman, Md, Nazrul Islam, Md, Monimul Huque, Md
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Benzene
Cellulose
Chemical treatment
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Composite materials
Dispersions
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Fibers
Filler-matrix interface
Fillers
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Injection molding
Materials Science
Mechanical properties
Polymer matrix composites
Polymer Sciences
Polypropylene
Polypropylenes
Raw
Sawdust
Scanning electron microscopy
Water content
Water uptake
Wood products
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Summary:In the present work, sawdust reinforced polypropylene composites were fabricated using an extruder and an injection molding machine. Raw sawdust was chemically treated with benzene diazonium salt in order to improve the mechanical properties of the composites. The effect of the chemically treated sawdust reinforced PP composites was evaluated from their mechanical and surface morphological properties. The values of the mechanical properties of the chemically treated sawdust-PP composites were found to be significantly higher than those of the raw ones. Water uptake tests revealed that composites prepared from the chemically treated sawdust absorb lower amount of water compared to the ones prepared from raw sawdust, suggesting that hydrophilic nature of the cellulose in the sawdust has significantly decreased upon chemical treatment. The surface morphology obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that raw sawdust-PP composites possess surface roughness with extruded filler moieties, and weak interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the filler while the chemically treated one showed improved filler-matrix interaction. This indicates that better dispersion of the filler with the PP matrix has occurred upon chemical treatment of the filler.
ISSN:1566-2543
1572-8919
1572-8900
DOI:10.1007/s10924-010-0230-z