BAMBOO FIBER Overmolding Textile Grade Carbon Fiber Tape and Bamboo Fiber Polypropylene Composites

The trend of using natural fiber composites is increasing rapidly due to the growing environmental concerns and increased awareness on sustainability. However, due to the lower strength of natural fibers (95- 1600MPa) compared to synthetic fibers (2000-4000 MPa), high moisture absorption rate, variation in the fiber properties, and lower processing temperature range limit its applications. This study advances the concept of overmolding of bamboo fiber-polypropylene (BF-PP) composites with unidirectional and 0/90 textile grade carbon fiber (TCF) tape. BF-PP composites were processed using extrusion compression molding (ECM) technique. TCF tape was produced on a thermoplastic polymer impregnation line. Mechanical and morphological properties of overmolded hybrid composites were studied. These studies attempted to evaluate the interface between the BF-PP and the TCF thermoplastic tape. Flexural strength and flexural modulus of BF-PP composites increased by -152% and -164% respectively by overmolding BF-PP with unidirectional TCF tape; and by -53% and -54% respectively on overmolding 0/90 TCF thermoplastic tape. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the TCF tape overmolded BF-PP composites exhibited good interfacial bonding.