Fabrication of Polypropylene/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber/Kenaf Core Composites: Effect of Polypropylene Maleic Anhydride as Compatibilizer

Abstract

The fabrication of polypropylene (PP)/acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)/kenaf core (KC) composites were investigated. Tensile and morphological properties of composites were evaluated with the addition of polypropylene maleic anhydride (PPMAH) as a compatibilizer Five compositions of PP/NBR/KC with varied NBR loading (0–60 phr) were prepared with the addition of constant PPMAH ratio at 5phr. All the materials were melts mixed using a heated two-roll mill at temperature 180 °C and speed of 50 rpm. PP/NBR/KC compounds were compressed into 1 mm thin sheet by using a hot press machine and cut into a dumbbell shape specimen. The tensile test was conducted according to ASTM D 638 using a Universal Testing Machine. The results indicated that tensile strength slightly decreased with increasing NBR loading. However, it is interesting to observe that PP/NBR/KC composites with PPMAH compatibilizer have better tensile strength. Almost 43% improvement resulted for PP/NBR/KC/PPMAH composites with ratio 70/30/10. From scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, composites with PPMAH compatibilizer show good attachment of KC filler with PP/NBR matrices.