Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene Composites Reinforced with Chemically Treated Coir and Abaca Fiber

Abstract

Coir and abaca fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites were manufactured using a single extruder and an injection molding machine. Raw coir and abaca were chemically treated with benzene diazonium salt. Both raw and treated coir and abaca fibers at level of fiber loading (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt%) were utilized during composite manufacturing. Mechanical tests of the resultant composites and PP were conducted. A comparison has been made between the mechanical properties of the coir and abaca fiber-reinforced composites. Chemically treated fiber-reinforced specimens yielded better mechanical properties compared to the raw composites, while coir fiber composites had better mechanical properties than abaca fiber reinforced ones. Based on fiber loading, 30% fiber-reinforced composites had the optimum set of mechanical properties.