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J Polym Environ (2008) 16:250257 DOI 10.1007/s10924-008-0113-8
ORIGINAL PAPER
Natural Fiber Reinforced Poly(vinyl chloride) Composites: Effect of Fiber Type and Impact Modier
Y. Xu Q. Wu Y. Lei F. Yao Q. Zhang
Published online: 10 October 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008
Abstract Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and natural ber composites were prepared by melt compounding and compression molding. The inuence of ber type (i.e., bagasse, rice straw, rice husk, and pine ber) and loading level of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) block copolymer on composite properties was investigated. Mechanical analysis showed that storage modulus and tensile strength increased with ber loading at the 30% level for all composites, but there was little difference in both properties among the composites from various ber types. The use of SEBS decreased storage moduli, but enhanced tensile strength of the composites. The addition of ber impaired impact strength of the composites, and the use of SEBS led to little change of the property for most of the composites. The addition of ber to PVC matrix increased glass transition temperature (Tg), but lowered degradation temperature (Td) and thermal activation energy (Ea). After being immersed in water for four weeks, PVC/rice husk composites presented relatively smaller water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) rate compared with other composites. The results of the study demonstrate that PVC composites lled with agricultural bers had properties comparable with those of PVC/wood composite.
Keywords Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) Composites
Fibers SEBS Impact modier
Introduction
Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most commonly used plastics in our society, and its main applications include pipes, electric wires, window proles, siding, etc. Recently, wood ber reinforced PVC is getting more popular because of its acceptable mechanical properties, moisture and fungus resistance, long lifetime, wood-like surface performance, and recyclability [1]. Some weakness of this material including low impact strength and thermal stability imposes restriction on its application, which signals need for additional research on this important product.
Incorporation of wood ber in a plastic matrix can enhance modulus of the resulting composites, but decreases composite impact strength at the same time [2]. Considering the relative low impact resistance of the neat PVC matrix, it is of more practical signicance to improve the impact strength for PVC/natural ber composites. Current research in this...