Fungal Resistance of Polypropylene/Wood Flour/Organoclay Hybrid Composites

It is well known that over the past few decades, polymers have replaced many conventional materials in various applications, which is obviously due to the advantages of polymers overconventional materials. The most important advantages of using polymers are, ease of processing, high productivity andlow cost, in combination with their versatility. In fact, polymers can be modified by the use of fillers and reinforcing fibers to suit the high strength/high modulus requirements [1]. One of the greatest concerns regarding this new class of materials is their susceptibility to living organisms such aswood decaying fungi and termites, which may attack them under favorable conditions and eventually lead to their degradation and loss of mechanical properties [2]. Recently, nanoscience and nanotechnology have opened up a completely new way to develop wood fibers/thermoplasticpolymer composites [3]. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of nanoclay loading on the natural durability of wood flour/polypropylene composites against white-rot fungi (Trametes versicolor).