Characterization of Polypropylene Green Composites Reinforced by Cellulose Fibers Extracted from Rice Straw

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP) based green composites containing 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt% of cellulose fibers (CFs) which were extracted from rice straw were successfully prepared by melt blend method. The CFs washed with H2O2 after alkaline extraction showed lower water absorption than that not washed with H2O2. The thermal, mechanical, and biodegradation properties of composites were also investigated. The 10% weight loss temperature of the composites was decreased with the increasing CFs content, but all the composites showed over 300°C. Young’s modulus and flexural properties of PP were improved by blending PP with CFs. The pure PP showed no degradability, but the PP/CFs composites degraded from about 3 to 23 wt%, depending on CFs content after being buried in soil for 50 days. These PP/CFs composites with high thermal, mechanical properties and biodegradability may be useful as green composite materials for various environmental fields.