Mechanical and Interfacial Properties of Hydrolyzed Kevlar Fiber Reinforced Wood Flour/HDPE Composites

Abstract

Hydrolyzed Kevlar fibers (KFs) were compouded into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with wood flour (WF) by twin-screw/single-screw extruder to investigate the reinforcement effects of KFs on the mechanical properties of conventional WF/HDPE composites. Maleated HDPE (MAPE) was used as a compatibilizer. The mechanical properties significantly improved as the KFs loading increases in the presence of 4% MAPE, such as tensile strength 14.7%, tensile modulus 12.4%, flexural strength 22.2%, flexural modulus 22.4%, and impact strength 41.7% with 2 wt.% KFs compared to WF/HDPE composite with MAPE. The fiber matrix morphology of the interface region in the composites was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).