Wood plastic composites from agro-waste materials: Analysis of mechanical properties

This article presents the application of agro-waste materials (i.e., corn stalk, reed stalk, and oilseed stalk) in order to evaluate and compare their suitability as reinforcement for thermoplastics as an alternative to wood fibers. The effects of fiber loading and CaCO3 content on the mechanical properties were also studied. Overall trend shows that with addition of agro-waste materials, tensile and flexural properties of the composites are significantly enhanced. Oilseed fibers showed superior mechanical properties due to their high aspect ratio and chemical characteristics. The order of increment in the mechanical properties of the composites is oilseed stalk > corn stalk > reed stalk at all fiber loadings. The tensile and flexural properties of the composite significantly decreased with increasing CaCO3 content, due to the reduction of interface bond between the fiber and matrix. It can be concluded from this study that the used agro-waste materials are attractive reinforcements from the standpoint of their mechanical properties. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.