FILLER-CONTENT DETERMINATION OF WOOD-BASED COMPOSITES BY THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS

Oil-palm wood flour (OPWF), a new type of wood-based filler for polypr opylene has been investigated. One important characterisation of the O PWF composites involves the checking for the actual filler content and filler distribution within the matrix. Being an organic by-product, t he OPWF filler degrades before the polypropylene matrix when subjected to high temperature. An analytical technique is described here for co mputation of the OPWF content in the composites based on a simple expr ession, p(f) = Psi(m(d)/m(c)) derived from thermogravimetric analyses. The technique has shown good agreement and consistency between determ ined and actual filler contents. The composites were also found to hav e a uniform filler distribution by the same technique.