Polypropylene composites obtained from self-reinforced hybrid fiber system

The purpose of the study was to obtain a composite material with the self-reinforced structure, which processing provide increased mechanical properties. The composites used in presented work were prepared from the two types of fiber mixtures, both were based on polypropylene fibers, the difference was in used cellulose or wood flour filler. Composites were prepared using the hot compaction method. The presented research describes the effect of the composite composition and processing conditions. The results include the static tension measurements, tensile impact tests and thermal analysis, including: DSC and DMTA. The structure has been studies using the SEM observations. Results of presented studies confirm the self-reinforcing effect in obtained hybrid composites. It provides in the comparison to the standard wood polymer composites to the higher level of material reinforcement with lower amount of natural filler. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.