Flammability, thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of bamboo–glass hybrid composites

Abstract

This study evaluates the influence of hybridization on the flammability, thermal, dynamic mechanical and impact properties of bamboo–glass hybrid polypropylene composites. Flammability tests using cone calorimetry show that the hybrid composites performed better than the glass–polypropylene (GPP) composites, exhibiting a minimum reduction of 19% on the heat release rate (HRR) and smoke release as well as taking longer to ignite. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reveals that the hybrid composites are thermally more stable before starting to degrade at 275°C and fully degraded at 400°C. The dynamic mechanical analysis shows an increase in the storage modulus indicating higher stiffness and lower damping ratio in the case of hybrid composites. The charpy impact strength of the hybrid composites was increased to 1129.2 J m−1 compared to 530.9 J m−1 of bamboo–polypropylene composites. These results indicate that, by replacing several layers of glass with bamboo fabric in GPP composites, a hybrid concept is feasible for developing an excellent and economical lightweight composite.