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

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 modificat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Russo, Pietro, Vitiello, Libera, Sbardella, Francesca, Santos González, José Ignacio, Tirillò, Jacopo, Bracciale, Maria Paola, Rivilla de la Cruz, Iván, Sarasini, Fabrizio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/41925
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/41925
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:polymer matrix composites
flax fibers
surface treatments
adhesion
Descripción
Sumario: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.