Preliminary Study of Polypropylene/Coir/Carbon Black Conductive Wood Plastic Composite

Our living environment is full of diverse electronic products, making conductive polymer a popular subject for researchers. Insulating polypropylene (PP) can be improved in terms of conductivity by intermingling with electroconductive materials. Carbon black and carbon fiber are two materials that can supplement electroconductive and mechanical properties in insulating polymer materials. In this study, natural coir is first alkali-treated and then melt-blended with PP and carbon black, forming the composite. The resulting composite is tested in terms of its electromagnetic shielding effectiveness and mechanical properties. According to the results, when the amount of carbon black is 12 wt% and coir 3 wt%, the composite displays the optimum electromagnetic shielding of -23.56 dB, tensile strength of 37.07 MPa, and flexural strength of 47.21 MPa.