Study of the effect of ionizing radiation on composites of wood flour in polypropylene matrix using barium titanate as coupling agent

The purpose of this work was to study the effects of ionizing radiation on the properties of wood flour composites in polypropylene matrix, using barium titanate as a coupling agent and the reactive monomer tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPDGA). An electron accelerator was used in the study as the radiation source. The physical properties of virgin compounds and of the polypropylene/wood flour composite, with and without barium titanate and TPDGA addition, were investigated. The composites were developed from the load treatment, which first consisted of incorporating additives to the wood flour reinforcement and after that, the fusion process of polypropylene and composite mixing in a 'calander'. Subsequently, the samples to be irradiated and submitted to thermal and mechanical assays were molded by injection. The mechanical properties (hardness, impact resistance and molten fluidity index (MFI)), as well as the thermal properties (HDT and Vicat) of the composites were determined. The investigated compositions consisted of polypropylene/wood flour, polypropylene/wood flour with barium titanate and polypropylene/wood flour with barium titanate and TPDGA, using different wood flour concentrations of 10 por cent, 15 por cent and 20 por cent in the polypropylene matrix. The samples were separated in groups and irradiated to doses of 10 kGy and 20 kGy in the samples of the essays of traction. Besides these doses, it was also used doses of 15 kGy and 25 kGy to be observed the behavior of the sample of the sample due to the increase of the radiation. These doses were chosen to show that with low doses the composite material presents reticulation, what represents a viable commercial option. There was a reduction of the flow rate for the composites containing wood flour, being this reduction more effective in the presence of TiBa. The superficial treatment using TPDGA monomer influence in the composite samples because it acted as a plastic additive becoming the sample easier to be processed, increasing the mobility among the macromolecules, so that decreasing the viscosity and increasing the flow rate. The results obtained from the essay of the resistance to traction showed an addition of the property. The increase occurred both in the samples with no additives. The radiation modified the composite material occurring the formation of crosslinking. The incorporation of wood flour to the propylene resulted to the decrease of the resistance to the impact. The decrease of this property can be occurred because of the presence of wood flour can act as a tension concentrator, and consequently, reduces the impact strength. There was an addition in the hardness of the composites which had wood flour. The addition in the hardness was meaningful to the composites WF/PP, that because the bigger the amount of load, the bigger the module of hardness. In the irradiated samples, the hardness increase due to the wood oxidation, face to the radiation. It was observed that in some cases the increase in the radiation dose, did not influenced meaningfully in the variation of the temperature of thermal deflection of the composites indicating that there was crosslinking among the molecules promoted by TPDGA, and an improvement in the adhesion among interfaces promoted by the titanate. In the essay of temperature of softening Vicat, results presented were quite closed to pure PP and the results were not meaningful, the temperature of the composites can be considered the same of the pure PP. The ionizing radiation interacted in the composite material crosslinking the PP and oxidant the wood, what shows an increase in some proprieties and decrease in others ones. (author)