In the present study, coal fly ash (FA) was used as a reinforcement in a thermoplastic matrix blend of polyamide 6/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (PA/ABS). In the first part of this work, the as‐received FA (raw FA) was sieved with a 25 μm sieve to obtain FA with particle size less than 25 μm (FA). Then, the physicochemical properties of the raw FA and the FA were determined. Afterwards, FA was used to prepare a masterbatch of 20 wt% FA and 80 wt% PA by twin‐screw extrusion. Using this masterbatch, composites with different FA contents (4.5, 9, 14, and 18.5 wt%), with and without styrene‐(ethylene‐butylene)‐styrene grafted with maleic anhydride (SEBS‐g‐MA) (S‐g‐M), were produced by extrusion, which was followed by injection molding. Subsequently, several characterization techniques were performed to investigate the effect of FA loading and the S‐g‐M coupling agent on the structural, morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of the developed composites. The results showed that incorporating FA particles in the matrix blend improved the thermal stability and crystallinity, the Young's modulus, the tensile strength, and torsional properties of the composites. In contrast, the addition of S‐g‐M coupling agent to the polymer composites improved the interfacial adhesion between FA particles and the matrix blend. This further enhanced the structural, morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of the polymer composites. Overall, the use of FA as an inorganic filler improves the thermal and mechanical properties of polymer composites and shows a potential for promising applications.

In general, particulate reinforcement is known to greatly enhance the polymer composite rigidity at the expense of its ductility. Therefore, careful addition of elastomers can restore the composites toughness without sacrificing their stiffness. Thus, this work investigates the effect of TPU elastomer (thermoplastic polyurethane) on the ductile character of fly ash‐reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites. First, fly ash powder with particle‐size less than 63 μm (FA) was analyzed in terms of its physico‐chemical properties. The as‐characterized FA fine powder was then incorporated into PP polymer matrix to produce 50/50 wt% PP/FA masterbatch using extrusion process. Thereafter, the as prepared masterbatch was used to elaborate three polymer composite series by modifying the amount of FA and TPU via injection molding process. Binary and ternary PP composites filled with 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt% of FA or 80%FA/20%TPU or 50%FA/50%TPU were successfully manufactured. The resulted composites series were characterized in terms of their structural, morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties. It was found that the addition of FA into PP composites improved the composites' rigidity but reduced their ductility, due to the high reinforcing ability of FA particles. However, the inclusion of TPU to the binary PP/FA system exhibited a beneficial effect for restoring the ductility without a dramatic loss in stiffness, due to the toughening effect of TPU elastomer and improved interfacial adhesion. Overall, the above results suggest that a balance between the ratios of rigid particles and elastomer in a polymer matrix produces a multiphase polymer system with optimal mechanical performance, which make them promising materials for engineering applications.

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