Macro and micromechanical preliminary assessment of the tensile strength of particulate rapeseed sawdust reinforced polypropylene copolymer biocomposites for its use as building material. (20th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Oliver-Ortega, Helena; Chamorro-Trenado, Miquel Àngel; Soler, Jordi; Mutjé, Pere; Vilaseca, Fabiola; Espinach, Francesc X.
• Is Part Of: Construction & building materials. Volume 168(2018)
• Page Start: 422
• Page End: 430
• Publication Date: 2018-04-20
• Subjects: Rapeseed sawdust -- Polypropylene -- Biocomposites -- Strength -- Interface -- Outdoor applications; Building materials -- Periodicals; 624.18
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.02.158
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-0618

Abstract

Highlights: Value was added to Rapeseed sawdust by using it as reinforcement. The composites showed competitive tensile strength. Composites with 50% byproduct content showed higher tensile strength than the oil-based matrix. Micromechanical models were used to model the behavior of the interphase of the composites. Abstract: The growing environmental awareness promotes the research of greener and more sustainable materials for their use in building materials. Polyolefin-based wood plastic composites (WPCs) have attracted the attention of researchers in the last decades mainly due to their improved mechanical properties, low weight and low cost. On the other hand, rapeseed is one of the most extended harvests in the world and their production is expected to increase in the next years, according to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). Rapeseed is mainly used for the production of biodiesel, and moving from an oil-based economy to a bio-based economy will presumably involve increases of rapeseed production. Its harvest produces high amount of agroforestry residue in the shape of integral stems which can be exploited as polymer reinforcing element, although very little information is found in the literature in this respect. In this work, the viability of rapeseed sawdust reinforced polypropylene copolymer composites was analysed regarding its mechanical tensile strength. Besides, the coupling agent percentage to ensure the best performance was also studied. The tensile strength of the produced composites has been modelled using well-known micromechanical models which allow the determination of the fibre and matrix contributions to the composite strength. The results showed that competitive green composite materials can be obtained using a byproduct of rapeseed harvesting.