Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the incorporation effect of kaolin clay on the mechanical and thermal properties of PP/kaolin composites. Its performance is studied as a function of powder content in the different particle size. To improve the dispersion of the mineral clay and the interfacial interactions between matrix and filler, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA) was used as a compatibilizer. Also, the filler surface was modified with a silane-coupling agent (hexadecyltrimethoxysilane). The change of the kaolin structure into metakaolin by calcination was carried at 600°C. The results show that silane modified kaolin leads to a better dispersion and to a better mechanical and thermal properties. However, addition of untreated kaolin increases E− modulus of about 32 at 5% wt content. Elongation at break was also enhanced in the presence of calcined and silane modified kaolin as compared to untreated composites. Thermal stability was found to increase with 2.5% of compatibilizer in PP/kaolin composites.
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