Investigation on Morphological and Mechanical Properties of Coupling Agents on Baggass Polypropylene Composites

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to study the potential of bagasse fibers as reinforcement for thermoplastics as an alternative to wood fibers. The effects of three grades (Eastman G-3003, G-3015 and G-3216) of coupling agents on the mechanical properties were also studied. In the sample preparation, one level of fiber loading (40 wt.%) and three levels of coupling agent content (0, 2 and 4 wt.%) were used. For overall trend, with addition of three grades of the coupling agents, tensile, flexural and impact properties of the composites significantly improved, as compared with untreated samples. In addition, morphological study (SEM) revealed that the positive effect of coupling agent on interfacial bonding. The composites treated with G-3216 gave better results in comparison with G-3003 and G-3015 in which, There are some voids where the fibers have been pulled-out. The presence of these voids means that the interfacial bonding between the fiber and the matrix polymer is weak. This could be caused by the high melt viscosity of G-3216 Coupling agent.

Keywords

• Bagasse fibers
• Polypropylene
• Eastman G-3003
• G-3015 and G-3216
• MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
• SEM