Utilizing agro-residues as organic fillers instead of wood is considered a sustainable option for preserving forestry. Recently, we successfully developed a new chemical treatment method to extract rich cellulosic microfibers from agro-residues of date palm trees. The treated fibers exhibited an improved performance, thus demonstrating the prominent potency of the new method. For further confirmation, in this study, we have applied the technique to treat raw microfibers and examine their performance as reinforcing elements in both virgin polypropylene (PP) and recycled post-consumer polypropylene (rPP). The chemically treated fibers were initially pulverized to a powder form using a ball milling machine and then blended with PP or rPP to make bio-composites. Specimens were fabricated at melt state using a single-screw extruder followed by compression molding. Then, a series of mechanical and physical tests were conducted on the specimens following ASTM standards. Results revealed that incorporating treated fillers into either PP or rPP has enhanced the mechanical properties of the bio-composite compared to the ones with untreated filler. Owing to the treatment, the rise in tensile strength of recycled polymer-based bio-composites was higher than that of virgin polymer-based bio-composites where treated fillers acted effectively as a nucleation agent to rPP. Additionally, a pronounced drop in water absorption and boost in crystallinity of both bio-composites were attained. However, thermal degradation was not dramatically altered. Therefore, this study showed that reinforcing rPP with treated date palm filler to make bio-composites is a reliable route for designing products across a wide range of industries.

利用农业残留物代替木材作为有机填料被认为是保护林业的可持续选择。最近，我们成功开发了一种新的化学处理方法，从椰枣树的农业残留物中提取丰富的纤维素微纤维。处理后的纤维表现出改进的性能，从而证明了新方法的显着效力。为了进一步证实，在本研究中，我们应用该技术来处理原始微纤维，并检查它们作为原始聚丙烯 (PP) 和回收的消费后聚丙烯 (rPP) 中增强元件的性能。经过化学处理的纤维首先使用球磨机粉碎成粉末形式，然后与 PP 或 rPP 混合以制造生物复合材料。使用单螺杆挤出机在熔融状态下制造样品，然后进行压缩成型。然后，按照 ASTM 标准对样品进行了一系列机械和物理测试。结果表明，与未经处理的填料相比，将经过处理的填料掺入 PP 或 rPP 中可以提高生物复合材料的机械性能。由于这种处理，回收的聚合物基生物复合材料的拉伸强度的提高高于原始聚合物基生物复合材料，其中处理过的填料可以有效地充当 rPP 的成核剂。此外，两种生物复合材料的吸水率显着下降，结晶度提高。然而，热降解并没有显着改变。因此，这项研究表明，用经过处理的枣椰树填料增强 rPP 来制造生物复合材料是设计跨多个行业的产品的可靠途径。