Secondary fiber reinforced functionalized polypropylene composites for design and manufacturing of commodity products

Abstract

This study develops relatively more sustainable polymer composites based on a secondary fiber. Secondary fibers from discarded wooden products have been obtained as waste wood fibers (WWF) to collect, separate, minimize, and re-utilize, dumped wooden waste, instead of their disposal as a cradle to cradle approach. WWF have been used as reinforcements at 15 wt.%, 25 wt.% and 35 wt.% for chemically functionalized polypropylene (CF-PP) composites, developed by extrusion and injection molding. Tensile, flexural, and impact testing show that, compared to CF-PP, the CF-PP/15WWF, CF-PP/25WWF, and CF-PP/35WWF composites show higher tensile, flexural and impact properties, except elongation at break, and these properties increase with increasing WWF content. These higher mechanical properties are due to the enhanced interfacial bonding between CF-PP and WWF, evidenced by their FE-SEM micrographs. SEM images show the possibility of fiber fracture, but no fiber pull out. FTIR establish the ester and hydrogen bonds, imparting this bonding by the Palsule process. Design of a sustainable Modular Kitchen Unit (MKU) and a Dustpan has been performed by Total Design Approach (TDA), Morphological Chart Technique (MCT), and Objective Tree Method (OTM), and manufactured using injection molding, as efficient, eco-friendly, sustainable, and economical products as an application of the developed CF-PP/WWF composites.