MODIFICATION OF MECHANICAL AND BARRIER PROPERTIES OF POLYPROPYLENE MATRIX BY ADDITION OF FOREST DRY LEAVES WASTE

Abstract

Polymer composites reinforced with natural fibers have recently demonstrated a higher interest and attention in the development of environment-friendly materials like manufacturing composites by using natural fibers. Numerous characteristics have been examined by blending various compositions of the same natural fiber. There are no specifics about a mixture of natural fibers, even in a few works of literature, they attempted to make composites by the mixture of natural fibers, but in all of them, they have mixed natural fibers in a specified percentage composition. No information is available for the mixture of leaves without consideration of percentage composition. There has been no attempt to create a composite using dry forest leaves and polypropylene matrix produced from a range of natural fibers derived from dry trash. The buildup of a significant number of forest leaves in dry and hot places causes forest fires. Our goal is to develop natural fibers from dried forest leaves without sorting them and to understand the property variation by comparing it to already published literature. We will also check the variation in properties of the composite by hydrothermal treatment of these leaves and compare them with the directly mixed leaves-based composites. If there is a good enhancement of attributes, the economic elements of these composites will be considered as well.