Polypropylene/combinational inorganic filler micro‐/nanocomposites: Synergistic effects of micro‐/nanoscale combinational inorganic fillers on their mechanical properties

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP) has wide applications in various areas, but its low-temperature brittleness and low moduli have limited its applications in engineering areas. This article reported micro-/nanoscale combinational inorganic fillers (CIFs) to reinforce PP-matrix composites as the first example. The CIFs consisted of plate-like talc (T), needle-like wollastonite (W), and nanoAl 2 O 3 (N). The PP/CIFs specimens were fabricated via a process of twin-screw extrusion and screw-type injection molding. The mechanical properties and thermal deflection temperature (HDT) of the PP/CIF composites were tested according to the corresponding standards, and the morphologies of the tensile-fractured sections were observed using FE-SEM. The PP/WT composites had higher mechanical properties and HDTs than those of either PP/W or PP/T. Small amounts of Al 2 O 3 nanocrystals together with WT simultaneously strengthened and toughened the PP-matrix composites. The PP/WTN composite with 2.6% of nano-Al 2 O 3 had well-balanced properties, enhanced by a large increment when compared with the PP matrix or PP/WT composites. The enhancements should be attributed to the synergistic effects of the CIFs not only in the aspect of various shapes (plate-like, needle-like, and spherical) but also in hierarchical size-levels (microscale and nanoscale). The novel strategy overcame the limitation of conventional rigid modification and solved the problem of uniform dispersion of nanocrystals in polymer matrices.

Properties of talc/wollastonite/polyamide 6 hybrid composites

“…Possible formation of such a better packed filler system may be the responsible phenomena in obtaining slightly improved impact strength in 20 W/20 T composites in comparison to others [45,55]. Fig.…”

Mechanical properties of wollastonite reinforced thermoplastic composites: A review

“…Different from other hybrid polymer composite, Chen and Yang reported a study about micro−/nanoscale combinational inorganic fillers (CIFs) reinforced PP . The CIFs used were plate‐like micrometric talc, needle‐like micrometric wollastonite, and nano‐ Al 2 O 3 particles (N).…”

Study on Recycled Polystyrene Plastic/SiOa#8322 Melting Blending Modified Nanocomposites

“…As a result of waste utilization, cost reduction, there are certain economic and social benefits. If the waste polystyrene foam is not comprehensively recycled, then it is not only a great waste of resources but also a great deal of pollution to the environment [5,6]. This paper studies the preparation of modified nanocomposites with recycling of waste PS plastic, where its formula design and process flow are considered [7,8].…”