Improvement Properties of Recycled Polypropylene by Reinforcement of Coir Fiber

This research was to study the related mechanical and thermal properties of recycled polypropylene from post consumer containers reinforced with coir fiber. Surface of coir fiber was treated with sodium hydroxide to remove lignin and hemicelluloses and likely to improve the interfacial adhesion in the composites. The composites of treated coir fiber and recycled polypropylene were prepared by varying the coir fiber contents at 5%, 10% and 20% by weight using a twin screw extruder. The thermal properties were investigated by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results from TGA showed that thermal stability of the composites was lower than that of recycled polypropylene resin and thermal stability decreased with increasing coir fiber content. From DSC results, it indicated that the crystallinity of treated coir fiber composites increased as a function of fiber content. The mechanical properties of injection-molded samples were studied by universal testing machine. The treated coir fiber composites produced enhanced mechanical properties. The tensile strength, tensile modulus and impact strength of modified coir fiber/recycled polypropylene composites increased as a function of coir fiber content.