Polypropylene Hybrid Composites: A Preliminary Study on the use of Glass and Coconut Fiber as Reinforcements in Polypropylene Composites

Abstract

Polypropylene hybrid composites were made using coconut and glass fibers as reinforcing agents in the polypropylene matrix. The incorporation of both fibers into the PP matrix has resulted in the reduction of flex-ural, tensile, and impact strengths and elongation at break. The reduction has been attributed to the increased incompatibility between the fibers and the PP matrix, and the irregularity in fiber size, especially for biofibers as shown by scanning electron micrographs. Both the flexural and tensile moduli have been improved with the increasing level of fiber loading. Most of the properties tested for Composites with high glass fibers/low biofiber loading are comparable with the ones with low glass fiber/high biofiber loading. The results show that more biofibers could be incorporated in hybrid composites which would give the same range of properties as the composites with higher loading of glass fibers.