THE EFFECT OF MALEATED POLYPROPYLENE (MAPP) ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF KENAF COREPOLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES

Abstract

The manufacturing ofkenafcore fibre- polypropylene composites with treated and nontreatedmaleated polypropylene (MAPP) was fabricated. Commercial MAPP (epolene 43) was used to determine MAPP's effectiveness as a coupling agent for kenaf fibre-composites. The mixturing between kenaf, PP and MAPP was done in an internal mixer machine to produce a pellet. A Kenaf core- polypropylene composite sample was manufactured using a compression moulding method on the kenaf and polypropylene (PP) pellets. The tensile, flexural and impact ofthe epolene 43 treated composite samples were betterthan those ofthe untreated composites. Scanning electronmicrograph (SEM) proved that the interfacial region oftreated composite board shows good interaction among kenaf's wood fibre and PP components.