Mechanical, thermal, and flammability behavior of chitosan-modified date palm leaf–based polypropylene composites

Over the last few years, significant interest has been noted toward the utilization of natural fibers to develop sustainable composites. The demand for minimizing the use of synthetic fibers and replacing them with natural fibers in polymer composite is continuously increasing. Date palm tree has been a renowned source of lignocellulosic fibers/fillers in the development of polymeric composites. However, date palm leaves (DPL) have not been explored in woven form; therefore, in the current research endeavor, DPL have been weaved into woven mat form to investigate the DPL potential to be used as reinforcement in composite laminates. The DPL was modified with chitosan solution to enhance their thermal stability. The composite laminates were developed using direct compression molding using film stacking method. The influence of DPL reinforcement on mechanical, thermal, flammability, and dynamic mechanical behavior of the composites has been investigated and is reported. The tensile strength was found to decrease for PP-DP composites, while tensile modulus was found to increase, while, for chitosan-treated DPL reinforced composite (PP-DP-Cs), a slight improvement of about 0.81% in tensile strength was recorded, and tensile modulus was improved by 42.20%. Chitosan-modified DPL has resulted in enhanced thermal stability and recorded the reduced burning rate for the developed composites. Results indicated that with a slight compromise in mechanical properties, the developed material could be commercialized for non-structural applications under waste management scheme.