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

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 H 2 O 2 after alkaline extraction showed lower water absorption than that not washed with H 2 O 2 . 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.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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