Effects of Compatibilizers on Properties of Polypropylene/Bamboo Fiber Composites

Bamboo fiber (BF) reinforced thermoplastic material composites were prepared in this study. polypropylene (PP) was compounded with bamboo fiber in a twin screw extruder at bamboo fiber contents of 0-30 wt% with polyethylene grafted maleic anhydride (PE-g-MA) as modifying agent. PP/bamboo fiber composites were to dumbbell specimens by injection molding process. The effect of bamboo fiber contents on properties of the composites was investigated. Tensile and storage modulus of the composites increased when increasing bamboo fiber contents. It can be noted that bamboo fiber promoted crystallization and enhanced crystallinity of PP in the composites, which improved the composites mechanical performance. On the contrary, tensile strength of the PP/BF composites was almost unchanged. Nevertheless, it was considering that the level of interaction between bamboo fiber and PP could be enhanced at higher contents of PE-g-MA. It can be noted that fracture toughness of the PP/BF composites was maintained at the BF contents of 10 wt%, which was attributed to the good interaction between bamboo fiber and PP matrix with the addition of PE-g-MA.