THE EFFECT OF FILLER LOADING ON PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MAIZE STRAW AND WASTE POLYPROPYLENE PARTICLE COMPOSITE

This study investigates the effects of maize straw as a filler material in polypropylene composites, with a focus on understanding the influence of filler loading on the material's mechanical and physical properties. Maize straw was prepared by drying and grinding before being compounded with polypropylene using a two-roll mill. The resulting composite samples were subjected to property evaluations. The findings revealed that an increase in filler loading enhanced the hardness of the composite. Conversely, the impact strength decreased with higher filler loading, reaching its lowest value at 40% filler content. Similarly, tensile strength diminished as the filler content increased, with the most significant reduction observed at 40% filler loading. In contrast, both the density and water absorption of the composite increased with higher filler loading, peaking at 40% filler content. These findings suggest that maize straw-polypropylene composites could be tailored for applications requiring specific property profiles. Potential areas of application include construction materials, automotive components, and packaging products where optimized hardness, density, and water absorption are critical considerations.