Mechanical and physical properties of non-woven kenaf fibre mat reinforced polypropylene composites prepared by compression molding

Abstract

In this research, the non-woven kenaf fibre mat reinforced polypropylene composites (NWKFMRPP) were fabricated by the compression moulding method with different layers of kenaf fibre (KF) mat. The pure polypropylene (PP) matrix was used to prepare the composites to serve as control. Two types of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) coupling agent which is MAPP1 (Polybond 3200) and MAPP2 (Orevac CA100) also have been used to enhance the adhesion between fibre and matrix. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to characterize the chemical constituents in pure PP and the NWKFMRPP composites. Then, tensile and flexural test were used to determine the mechanical properties by using a universal testing machine (UTM). Water absorption and thickness swelling test were also been carried out to reveal the physical properties of pure PP and NWKFMRPP composites. Overall, the result shows that the increment in KF layers has given a significant improvement in modulus properties but at the expense of strength properties. Besides, the percentage of water absorption increased when the layer of KF increased. However, the presence of both MAPP1 and MAPP2 coupling agents successfully enhanced its mechanical and water absorption properties as a result of the improvement of the fibre-matrix adhesion between the KF and PP matrix.