Preparation of a High‐Performance Anti‐Aging Polypropylene Composite with Titanium Oxide and Calcium Sulfate Shielding Agents

• Published in: ChemistrySelect (Weinheim) 2024-02, Vol.9 (6), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Cong, Shanshan, Lan, Tianyu, Wang, Yazhen, Zu, Liwu, Dong, Shaobo, Zhan, Zuoyuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: anti-aging; atom transfer radical polymerization; High performance polypropylene; modified
• ISSN: 2365-6549; 2365-6549
• DOI: 10.1002/slct.202304376

Polypropylene is a thermoplastic synthetic resin that is widely used across industries. However, it tends to fracture easily and get oxidized under ultraviolet light and high temperatures. This not only reduces its service life but also causes pollution and waste. Although the use of TiO2 as a shielding agent has improved the aging performance of PP composite materials, it still has poor mechanical and processing properties that do not meet the actual demand for high‐performance polypropylene.This limitation seriously impacts the development of polypropylene products. In this paper, we propose the use of the ATRP method with UV shielding titanium dioxide (TiO2) and high‐toughness calcium sulfate whiskers (CSW) coated with coupling agent KH570 surface modification after grafting acrylonitrile (AN). This material has a dual shielding effect on UV light. TiO2‐PAN (TP) mainly plays the role of anti‐aging, whereas CSW‐PAN(CP) mainly enhances the compatibility and mechanical strength between TP and CP. Additionally, CP has a certain UV shielding function due to grafting acrylonitrile. When added to PP in a certain proportion, TP and CP work together to improve the overall performance of polypropylene. The nuclear‐shell layer structure modifiers, TP and CP, were prepared and characterized using FTIR and XPS. The connection between aging and the interface was analyzed using SEM and AFM. Finally, mechanical tests were conducted to determine if the aging performance had improved.