Abstract
The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of the use of coupling agent (CA) on the properties of thermoplastic composites produced from post-consumer polypropylene (rPP) and malt bagasse fibers (MB) of brewing industry. The CA used was maleic anhydride graft polypropylene copolymer (MAgPP). The study was carried out in two stages: in first step the best concentration of MB fibers was verified, where was varied the fiber contents between 0, 10, 20 and 30% (w/w); in the second step, the best MB concentration evaluated was used with different CA concentrations (0, 1, 3, 5 and 7% w/w). Of the three MB concentrations evaluated as reinforcing filler, the sample with a 30% (w/w) ratio presented 44% lower deformation than the others, presenting better mechanical resistance, although it also presented the highest water absorption. Thus, the 30% MB fiber content was chosen for two step, where the results showed that the PP/MB-30 composite treated with 3% (w/w) CA had a modulus of elasticity 10.3% higher than the same composite without CA, corroborating with the morphological analysis, which indicated better interfacial adhesion between composite components when CA was used. The PP/MB-30 composite treated with 1% (w/w) CA showed the highest thermal stability among all samples.
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