Effect of Carbon Nanostructures and Fatty Acid Treatment on the Mechanical and Thermal Performances of Flax/Polypropylene Composites

Polymers

JoseI. Santos¹  Iván Rivilla¹  MariaPaola Bracciale²  Francesca Sbardella²  Fabrizio Sarasini²  Libera Vitiello³  Pietro Russo³  Jacopo Tirillò⁴ 

[1]UdR INSTM, Sapienza-Università di Roma, 00184 Roma, Italy

[2]

[3]Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment &Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Council of Research, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy

[4]SGIker-UPV/EHU, Centro “Joxe Mari Korta”, Tolosa Hiribidea, 72, 20018 Donostia−San Sebastián, Spain

关键词: polymer matrix composites;    flax fibers;    surface treatments;    adhesion;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym12020438

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Four different strategies for mitigating the highly hydrophilic nature of flax fibers were investigated with a view to increase their compatibility with apolar polypropylene. The effects of two carbon nanostructures (graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs)), of a chemical modification with a fatty acid (stearic acid), and of maleated polypropylene on interfacial adhesion, mechanical properties (tensile and flexural), and thermal stability (TGA) were compared. The best performance was achieved by a synergistic combination of GNPs and maleated polypropylene, which resulted in an increase in tensile strength and modulus of 42.46% and 54.96%, respectively, compared to baseline composites. Stearation proved to be an effective strategy for increasing the compatibility with apolar matrices when performed in an ethanol solution with a 0.4 M concentration. The results demonstrate that an adequate selection of surface modification strategies leads to considerable enhancements in targeted properties.

【 授权许可】

Unknown