Effects of nanoclay and coupling agent on the physico-mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties of wood flour/polypropylene composites
(272–277)Polymer  Engineering &  Science 51 #2 (2011)
Tabari, Nourbakhsh and Ashori of the Islamic Azad University, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands and Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, Iran fabricated composites with different nanoclay and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) contents by melt compounding in a twin-screw extruder and then by injection molding.  Applying MAPP on the surface of the wood flour can promote filler polymer interaction, which, in turn, would improve mechanical properties of the composite as well as its water uptake and thermal stability.  Composite voids and the lumens of the fibers were filled with nanoclay, which prevented the penetration of water by the capillary action into the deeper parts of composite. Therefore, the water absorption in composites fabricated using NC was significantly reduced.  In all cases, the degradation temperatures shifted to higher values after using MAPP. The largest improvement on the thermal stability of composites was achieved when nanoclay was added.   (RDC 2/2/2011)