Journal of Polymers and the Environment

, Volume 18, Issue 1, pp 65–70 | Cite as

Hybrid Composites from Waste Materials

Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

Hybrid composites of thermoplastic biofiber reinforced with waste newspaper fiber (NF) and poplar wood flour (WF) were prepared. The weight ratio of the lignocellulosic materials to polymer was 30:70 (w:w). Polypropylene (PP) and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) were also used as the polymer matrix and coupling agent, respectively. The mechanical properties, morphology and thermal properties were investigated. The obtained results showed that tensile and flexural modulus of the composites were significantly enhanced with addition of biofibers in both types (fiber and flour), as compared with pure PP. However, the increasing in WF content substantially reduced the tensile, flexural and impact modulus, but improved the thermal stability. This effect is explained by variations in fiber morphological properties and thermal degradation. Increasing fiber aspect ratio improved mechanical properties. The effect of fiber size on impact was minimal compared to the effects of fiber content. Scanning electron microscopy has shown that the composite, with coupling agent, promotes better fiber–matrix interaction. The largest improvement on the thermal stability of hybrid composites was achieved when WF was added more. In all cases, the degradation temperatures shifted to higher values after addition of MAPP. This work clearly showed that biofiber materials in both forms of fiber and flour could be effectively used as reinforcing elements in thermoplastic PP matrix.

Keywords

Hybrid composite Biodegradable Mechanical properties Lignocellulosic fibers Waste materials 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgment

Financial support (grant number # 600-47) from the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST) is gratefully acknowledged.

References

  1. 1.
    Burgueñ R, Quagliataa MJ, Mohanty AK, Mehta G, Drzal LT, Misra M (2005) Compos Part A 36:581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Thwe MM, Liao K (2003) Compos Sci Technol 63:375CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Pothan LA, Thomas S (2004) Appl Polym Sci 91:3856CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Jacob M, Thomas S, Varughese KT (2004) Compos Sci Technol 64:955CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    John MJ, Francis B, Varughese KT, Thomas S (2008) Compos Part A 39:352CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    Ashori A, Nourbakhsh A (2009) Compos Mater 43:1869CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Ghasemi I, Azizi H, Naeimian N (2008) Iran Polym J 17:191Google Scholar
  8. 8.
    Anuar H, Wan Busu WN, Ahnad SH, Rashid R (2008) Compos Mater 42:1075CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Rozman HD, Tay GS, Kumar RN, Abusamah A, Ismail H, Mohd Ishak ZA (2001) Eur Polym 37:1283CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Sreekala MS, Jayamol G, Kumaran MG, Thomas S (2002) Compos Sci Technol 62:339CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Mishra S, Mohanty AK, Drzal LT, Misra M, Parija S, Nayak SK, Tripathy SS (2003) Compos Sci Technol 63:1377CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Tajvidi M (2005) Appl Polym Sci 98:665CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Jiang H, Kamdem DP, Bezubic B, Ruede P (2003) Vinyl Addit Technol 9:138CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    Rozman HD, Hazlan A, Abubakar A (2004) Polym Plast Technol Eng 43:1129CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    Hariharan ABA, Khalil HPSA (2005) Compos Mater 39:663CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    Espert A, Vilaplana F, Karlsson S (2004) Compos Part A 35:1267CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Eichhorn SJ, Baillie CA, Zafeiropoulos N, Mwaikambo LY, Ansell MP, Dufresne A et al (2001) Mater Sci 36:2107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    Keener TJ, Stuart RK, Brown TK (2004) Compos Part A 35:357CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Belgacem MN, Gandini A (2005) Compos Interf 24:41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    Panthapulakkal S, Sain M, Law L (2002) Polym Int 54:137CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    Nourbakhsh A, Ashori A, Kouhpayahzadeh M (2009) Reinf Plast Compos 28:2143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    Ashori A, Nourbakhsh A (2009) Appl Polym Sci 111:2616CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    Nourbakhsh A, Karegarfard A, Ashori A, Nourbakhsh A (2009) Thermo Compos Mater. doi: 10.1177/0892705708340962
  24. 24.
    Nuñez AJ, Sturn PC, Kenny JM, Aranguren MI, Marcovich NE, Reboredo MM (2002) Polym Eng Sci 42:733CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. 25.
    Maldas D, Kokta BV, Daneault C (1989) Appl Polym Sci 38:413CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    Stark NM, Rowlands RE (2003) Wood Fiber Sci 35:164Google Scholar
  27. 27.
    Shebani AN, Van Reenen AJ, Meincken M (2009) Thermochim Acta 481:52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. 28.
    Choudhury A, Adhikari B (2007) Polym Compos 28:78CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. 29.
    Mengeloglu F, Karakus K (2008) Sensors 8:500CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. 30.
    Lei Y, Wu Q, Clemons CM, Yao F, Xu Y (2007) Appl Polym Sci 106:3958CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. 31.
    Nachtigall SM, Cerveira GS, Rosa SM (2007) Polym Test 26:619CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. 32.
    Chan JH, Balke ST (1997) Polym Degrad Stabil 57:127CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Chemical IndustriesIranian Research Organization for Science & Technology (IROST)TehranIran

Personalised recommendations