Use of Organic Acids in Bamboo Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene Composites: Mechanical Properties and Interfacial Morphology

In obtaining wood polymer composites (WPCs), a weak interfacial bonding can cause problems during the processing and affect the mechanical properties of the resulting composites. A coupling agent (CA) is commonly used to solving this limitation. To improve the interfacial bonding between bamboo fiber (BF) and a polypropylene matrix, the effect of three organic acids on the mechanical properties and interfacial morphology were investigated. The BF/PP composites were prepared in five families: the first without CA, the second using a maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene coupling agent, and the third, fourth, and fifth families with the addition of organic acids (OA) tricarboxylic acid (TRIA), hexadecanoic acid (HEXA), and dodecanoic acid (DODA), respectively. The use of OA in BF/PP improved the interfacial adhesion with the PP matrix, and it results in better mechanical performance than composites without CA. Composites coupled with MAPP, TRIA, DODA, and HEXA showed an increase in Young's modulus of about 26%, 23%, 15%, and 16% respectively compared to the composite without CA incorporation. In tensile strength, the increase in composites with CA was about 190%, while in the flexural modulus, the coupled composites showed higher values, and the increase was more in composites with TRIA: about 46%. The improvement caused by tricarboxylic acid was similar to that promoted by the addition of maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (MAPP).