The effect of carbon fibers, glass fibers and nanoclay on wood flour-polypropylene composite properties

This study investigates the influence of different types of reinforcing fillers on the mechanical properties and wettability of wood–plastic composite material. Micro-sized glass fibers (GF) and carbon fibers (CF) and nano-sized montmorillonite (MMT) were used to reinforce a polypropylene/wood flour composite. Clear improvement of the tensile strength and modulus, up to 20 and 29 %, respectively, was observed when GF was loaded; the impact strength was reduced by 7 %; the hardness of the composite was improved by up to 7 %. No significant change in the tensile strength was observed after the CF loading; the tensile modulus was improved by 18 %; the impact strength of the composite was reduced and hardness was improved by 19 and 7 %, respectively. The MMT enhanced the tensile modulus by 34 %; the other studied mechanical properties, tensile and impact strengths, as well as the hardness of the composite decreased by 12, 32 and 15 %, respectively. The water absorption level decreased with all three filler type loadings. The morphology of the composites was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).