Tensile properties of polypropylene waste/modified bagasse flour/E-type glass fiber flour hybrid composite: The effect of maleic anhydride-g-polypropylene addition

The addition of extra reinforcement in hybrid composite is aimed to overcome the weakness of the preceded reinforcement. In this study, hybrid composite of polypropylene waste/modified bagasse flour (MBF) /E-type glass fiber flour (GFF) with maleic anhydride-g-polypropylene (MAPP) addition were prepared by different weight ratios of the two reinforcements. The surface modification using MAPP was applied to bagasse flour in order to diminish its polarity so that it could be compatible with the non-polar polypropylene waste matrix. GFF and MAPP compositions were made constant at 10 wt.% and 2 wt.% respectively and MBF compositions were varied from 10 - 40 wt.%. The result of this study showed that MBF addition up to 20 wt.% can enhance the tensile properties of the composite. Addition of MAPP and 10 wt.% of GFF have been proven to give significant role in improving the mechanical properties of the composite. These results were also supported by Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) characterization and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis.