Technological watch

Natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites have been widely studied, mostly for environmental and economic reasons. One promising application is in the automotive industry, which widely uses talc filled EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer) toughened polypropylene (PP) for manufacturing interior and exterior vehicle components. It is important to analyze the durability of these materials since automotive vehicles have a long life cycle. The aim of this study was to assess mechanical and thermal properties of aged composites containing bamboo fiber reinforced recycled talc filled PP/EPDM compatibilized with maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH). Composites were prepared according to a 2 by 2 factorial design with center point, in a Haake twin screw extruder and injection molded. Specimens were aged for seven days at 90?°C in a chamber with hot air circulation. Addition of bamboo fiber significantly increased tensile and flexural strength, modulus and fatigue life, and decreased elongation at break and impact strength. Addition of the compatibilizer had a positive effect only on tensile and flexural strength, and fatigue life whereas the effect was negative on elongation at break and impact strength. The addition of fiber and PP-g-MAH, at levels exceeding 2?wt%, increased the degradation temperature of the fiber.