LDPE/agave fibre composites: Effect of coupling agent and weld line on mechanical and morphological properties

Natural fibre composites based on Agave fibres (Agave tequilana) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were produced by injection moulding. Maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) was also added to study the effect of fibre content, coupling agent addition, and weld line presence on mechanical properties. It was found that tensile and flexural moduli increased with fibre concentration while they decreased for impact strength. In all cases, MAPE addition enhanced the effect up to an optimum content between 2 and 5% on a fibre weight basis. The presence of a weld line substantially reduced tensile properties and this effect could be interpreted in terms of molecular entanglement and orientation changes. © Smithers Rapra Technology, 2008