Mechanical, flow, and morphological properties of talc- and kaolin-filled polypropylene hybrid composites

• Published in: Journal of applied polymer science 2007-04, Vol.104 (1), p.434-441
• Main Authors: Bakar, M. B. Abu, Leong, Y. W., Ariffin, A., Ishak, Z. A. Mohd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Composites; Exact sciences and technology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; hybrid composite; kaolin; Polymer industry, paints, wood; polypropylene; talc; Technology of polymers
• ISSN: 0021-8995; 1097-4628
• DOI: 10.1002/app.25535

Polypropylene (PP) hybrid composites have been produced by compounding two types of mineral fillers, viz., talc and kaolin with PP copolymer using a twin screw extruder. The PP hybrid composite was injection‐molded into dumbbell specimen for tensile, flexural, and impact properties characterizations. MFI and SEM studies were used to characterize the flow and morphological properties of the PP hybrid composites. The result shows that most of the hybrid composites showed a significant decrease in flow, tensile, flexural, and impact properties compared with the single filler‐filled PP composites. However, a hybridization effect was seen for the PPT20K10 hybrid composites, through the synergistic coalescence of positive characteristics from 20 wt % of talc and 10 wt % of kaolin. This hybrid formulation have given an economically advantageous material with the mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, and impact) comparable to those of the talc‐filled PP composites. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 434–441, 2007