The protection to the human health is one of the most important principles guiding the automotive industries for a sustainable development and production of their cars. The challenges to be faced are not only in reducing fuel consumption but also in decreasing the emission from volatiles in the car interior. The incorporation of natural amorphous short silica fibers in polypropylene composites was investigated as a proposal for creating new materials, aimed at reducing the car weight (with a consequent fuel economy), and meeting the emission requirements for interior components. In order to evaluate the influence from the compatibilizer on the fiber-polymer interface, samples with 0 and 20 wt. (%) of silica fibers, as well as with varying contents of PP-g-MAH (0, 1, 2 and 4 wt. (%)), were tested. The satisfactory results obtained for yield stress, flexural modulus, elongation at break, notched Charpy impact strength properties and emission behavior suggest that the optimum compatibilizer content is 2 wt. (%), above which there was no significant change. Therefore, short silica fibers are a potential alternative reinforcement for materials of automotive parts.
Silica short fibers; polypropylene composites; volatile emission behavior; interfacial compatibilizers
