Mechanical and damage tolerance behavior of short sisal fiber reinforced recycled polypropylene biocomposites

Sisal fiber (SF) reinforced recycled polypropylene biocomposites were prepared by melt blending technique. Biocomposites prepared with the incorporation of 40 wt% untreated sisal fiber loading showed a marginal improvement in mechanical properties as compared with matrix recycled polypropylene. SF surface was mercerized and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene was used as a coupling agent for better fiber matrix interfacial bonding. Mercerized sisal fiber reinforced biocomposites prepared with compatibilizer (maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene) shows significant improvement in tensile and flexural strength. Damage tolerance of recycled polypropylene matrix and its biocomposites were evaluated in monotonic and cyclic tensile test. Untreated sisal fiber reinforced biocomposites prepared with maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene shows improvement in damage tolerance compared with untreated sisal fiber biocomposites. Impact fractured morphology of biocomposites revealed better interfacial bonding between fiber, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene, and recycled polypropylene matrix.