Effect of Aminopropyltriethoxysilane on tensile properties of Polypropylene (PP)/Recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBRr)/Banana Skin Powder (BSP) composites

Abstract

The performance of banana skin powder (BSP) filled polypropylene (PP)/recycled acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBRr) composites with and without coupling agent, γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-APS), were investigated. The composites of different BSP filer loading (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 wt. %) were prepared. There are several testing that have been conducted such as mechanical testing which consists of tensile strength, elongation at break and tensile modulus, morphology and also Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis. The mechanical properties of PP/NBRr/BSP were studied. The higher BSP filler loading in PP/NBRr/BSP composites, the higher the tensile modulus but decreased in the tensile strength and elongation at break of the composites. Based on the results obtained for mechanical testing, the enhancement of BSP filler by γ-APS showed increasing tensile strength and tensile modulus but decreasing of elongation at break when compared to untreated BSP composites. The respective situations caused by the strong bonding between γ-APS treated BSP filler and PP/NBRr matrices. These findings were well supported by micrographs from the morphology studies