Properties of oil palm flour filled Polypropylene composites

Abstract

Composites of thermoplastic blend of polypropylene (PP) filled with oil palm flour (OPF) was prepared by Z-Blade Mixer at 180 ºC and rotor speed 50 rpm. In general, increased of oil palm flour loading have increasing Young’s modulus, whereas tensile strength and elongation at break decreased. The presence of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (3-APE) in PP/OPF composites increased the tensile strength and Young’s modulus, but reduced the elongation at break. 3-APE has impoved the interaction between filler and matrix in the composites. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) were carried to study thermal behaviour of PP/OPF composites with different filler loading. The result showed that the increasing of oil palm flour loading increase the thermal stability of composites. The addition of 3-APE increase the thermal stability of PP/OPF composites. Morphology by scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis indicated that filler matrix interaction was improved with incorporation of 3-APE.