Woodflour as Reinforcement of Polypropylene

Abstract

The effect of the filler content and size, as well as accelerated aging on the mechanical prop-erties of polypropylene composites reinforced with woodflour (WF/PP) were evaluated. The com-posites were prepared by the extrusion of polypropylene with woodflour (Pinus elliotti) based on following ratios: 15, 25 and 40 wt% with two different granulometries. The specimens were injec-tion molded according to ASTM standards. The composite properties did not show significant differences as a function of the filler granulometry. We also observed that by increasing the filler content, both the mechanical properties and the melt flow index (MFI) decreased, and the elastic-ity modulus, hardness and density increased. Concerning the accelerated aging, the composite presented a reduction in tensile properties. The results showed that the composite properties are extremely favorable when compared to other commercial systems reinforced by inorganic fillers.