Thermal, Mechanical and Morphological Behavior of Poly(propylene)/Wood Flour Composites

The comparative studies on the thermal, mechanical and morphological behavior of compression molded poly(propylene) (PP)/wood flour (WF) composites were performed using wood flours (WFs) of different origins. The comparison has been made on the basis of results obtained from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile testing. It has been demonstrated that an addition of 5 wt.‐% of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP‐g‐MA) has a significant effect on the morphological and thermomechanical behavior of the composites. Although, microscopic examinations revealed no significant differences in the morphology of the compatibilized composites, a remarkable improvement of thermal degradation behavior was observed. From the view point of mechanical properties, the composites with high amount of filler (60 wt.‐%) showed similar behavior irrespective of the origin of wood flour.