Plastic/Fiber Composite Using Recycled Polypropylene and Fibers from Sorghum halepense L.

Authors

  • Özen Eroglu Wood Materials Science, Institute for Building Materials, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Biocomposite Engineering, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey
  • Nihat Sami Cetin Department of Biocomposite Engineering, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey
  • Nasir Narlioglu Department of Biocomposite Engineering, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey
  • Wenqing Yan Wood Materials Science, Institute for Building Materials, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland

Keywords:

Sorghum halepense fiber, Leaf and stem fibers, Recycled polypropylene, Composite, Plant fiber

Abstract

Leaf and stem fibers of Sorghum halepense L. (SH) were investigated as fillers for recycled polypropylene (RPP) at 10, 20, and 30 wt%. The effects of SH in RPP on the thermal and mechanical properties of composites were investigated by tensile and bending tests, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that mechanical properties of the RPP composites decreased but their elasticity modulus increased. The addition of SH fibers to the polymer matrix changed the thermal properties of RPP. A slight decrease in DSC crystallinity was observed with the addition of 10% SH leaf and stem fiber to the polymer matrix and then the percentages of crystallinity increased with the addition of 20% and 30% SH leaf and stem fiber. The SEM images showed that the SH fibers mixed well with the polymer matrix without agglomeration, and the fracture sections of the composites were less rough than that of the RPP by itself.

Downloads

Published

2023-03-08

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Research Article or Brief Communication