Tensile and impact properties of three-component PP/wood/elastomer composites

Wood flour and natural fibers are used in increasing quantities mainly for the reinforcement of commodity polymers Such reinforcements have many advantages over particulate fillers or glass fibers; they increase stiffness considerably, they are obtained from renewable resources, are available in abundant quantities, cheap, and light at the same time Major application areas of these materials are the building and the automotive industries. In structural applications often large stiffness and impact resistance are required simultaneously, which are achieved traditionally by the combination of several functional additives. Composites used as bumper materials, for example, usually contain an elastomer to improve impact resistance and a filler or fiber to increase stiffness Research has started as early as the 80's on these materials [6, 9-12] and they have been commercially available for several decades. Structure can be quite complicated in such multicomponent materials. Two boundary structures may form in them: the two components, i.e.