Influence of Chemical Modification and Filler Loading on Fundamental Properties of Bamboo Fibers Reinforced Polypropylene Composites

The effects of chemical modification (silane coupling) and filler loading on the fundamental properties of the bamboo fiber (BF) filled polypropylene (PP) bio-composites were investigated in this study. Mechanical properties of the PP/BF composites, such as the tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact strength decreased as BF loading increased. However, the tensile modulus, flexural modulus, and water absorption were increased by the increase of the BF loading. The addition of aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (AS) and tetramethoxy orthosilicate (TMOS) after the alkali pretreatment for the BF increased all the tensile, flexural, impact strength, and water desorption of the resultant composites, resulting from the improved adhesion between the BF and PP matrix. This tendency was more obvious with the increase of the BF loading. The melting temperature, melting enthalpy, crystallization enthalpy, and crystallinity were decreased by the increase of BF loading and the AS and TMOS treatments. One the other hand, the crystalline temperature was increased by the addition of the BF, AS, and TMOS. Hence, AS and TMOS are considered as effectual coupling agents for the PP/BF composite systems.