Utilization of Agro-Waste Fibers in Plastic Composites; A Comparative Study

This work presents the application of agro-waste fibers namely, corn stalk, reed stalk, and oilseed stalk, in order to evaluate and compare their suitability as reinforcement for polypropylene as an alternative to synthetic fibers. In general, with the addition of agro-waste fibers, tensile and flexural properties of the composites were significantly enhanced. However, the Izod impact strength of the composites was decreased with addition of the fiber content. Similar trend was observed for all three fiber samples. Oilseed fibers showed superior mechanical properties due to their high aspect ratio and chemical characteristics. The order of increment in the mechanical properties of the composites was oilseed stalk corn stalk reed stalk at all fiber loadings. The tensile and flexural properties of the composite significantly decreased with increasing CaCO3 content, due to the reduction of interface bond between the fiber and polymer matrix.