Thermal, Thermomechanical, and Morphological Properties of Spartium junceum Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Composites

The composites investigated in this article were polypropylene reinforced with Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) fibers. These fibers were modified with N[-3 Trimethoxysilyl propyl] ethylene diamine (Z6020) or stearic acid, which work as coupling agents between fibers and matrix. This work studied the thermal (differential scanning calorimetry) and thermomechanical (dynamic mechanical thermal) analysis. The surfaces of the composites were characterized by electron microscopy. It was found that silane-treated fiber composites show superior properties compared with the specimens made of pure polypropylene. Microscopic observations correlate with these results.