Preliminary Study of Polypropylene/Sawdust Green Composite

[[abstract]]In this study, sawdust and polypropylene (PP) are melt-blended and injection-molded to form the wood-plastic composite (WPC).The WPC is then tested in terms of mechanical properties and compared with control groups of pure PP plate and PP/glass fiber (PP/GF) composite. In the tensile test, the WPC displays a tensile strength of 25-27 MPa, regardless of whether the sawdust content is 5, 10, or 15 wt%. Pure PP composite has a tensile strength of 30 MPa; PP/GF composite with 15 wt% glass fibers has a tensile strength of 57 MPa. In the bending test, the WPC displays a flexural strength of 44-45 MPa as the sawdust content does not influence the bending strength. PP/glass fiber composite yields a bending strength of 85 MPa when the content of glass fiber is 15 wt%. WPC is 5% lighter than PP/glass fiber composite