Tobacco Stalk Flour/Magnesium Oxysulfate Whiskers Reinforced Hybrid Composites of Recycled Polypropylene: Mechanical and Thermal and Antibacterial Properties

The present investigation utilizes tobacco stalks flour and magnesium oxysulfate whiskers as fillers to enhancers the recycle polypropylene through melt blending and injection molding. Studied the microscopic morphology, mechanical, thermal, and antibacterial properties of recycled polypropylene (rPP) based composites with different weight ratios of tobacco stalks flour (TSF) and magnesium oxysulfate whiskers (MOSw). Composites’ morphological studies indicated that tobacco stalks flour, and recycled polypropylene has good adhesion, improving composites’ mechanical properties. The addition of TSF did not significantly change the tensile strength of rPP, but it can effectively increase the flexural strength and flexural modulus. Compared with rPP, adding 30 wt% tobacco stalks flour to rPP can increase the flexural strength by about 32.74%. Meanwhile, the addition of magnesium oxysulfate whiskers further improves the material’s tensile strength. An increase in tobacco stalks flour content in the rPP enhances the crystallization temperature and degree of crystallinity of the polymer. In addition, attributed to the existence of tobacco stalks flour hydrophilic and antibacterial ability, the water absorption of the hybrid composites was increased and obtained antibacterial ability. Hence, this study provides a new development idea for tobacco stalks r recycling and applications.