Bradley, Walter Lee, 1943-Peterson, Benjamin2012-05-012012-05-0120122012-05-01http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8339Due to increasing environmental awareness and rapid depletion of nonrenewable resources, sustainable natural materials have been more widely used as fillers in polymeric composites. Coconut shell powder (CSP) is a renewable and abundant resource that when used as filler in polypropylene has been shown to enhance the mechanical properties in neat polypropylene. These mechanical property benefits are not intuitive based on results from other natural fillers. The purposes of this research are to determine efficacious means by which the addition of CSP to polypropylene enhances the mechanical properties. In particular--the effects of the addition of CSP to the morphology have been studied. The change in the processing window for polypropylene that results from the addition of CSP to polypropylene has also been explored.en-USBaylor University projects are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.ThesisNo access - Contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu