Fabrication and characterization of Polypropylene - microcrystalline cellulose based composites with enhanced compatibility

Abstract

There is a heighten interest on natural fiber reinforced polymer composites to achieve superior, mechanical properties. However, such composites are limited due to the poor compatibility between natural-fiber reinforcement and polymer matrices. An enhanced fiber-polymer interface compatibility was achieved for microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) and hydrophobic polymer, polypropylene (PP) system using sunflower oil biodiesel (SFEE) based surface treatments. Surface treated MCC was characterized based on their morphology, crystallinity, chemical structure and wettability. The influence of compositional variations of surface modified MCC on composite properties was also studied.