Investigation of the Effect of Polycarbonate Rate on Mechanical Properties of Polybutylene Terephthalate/Polycarbonate Blends

Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) is a brittle polymer with the disadvantage of low impact toughness, so it is not easy to meet the requirements of both high tensile strength, flexural strength, and high impact strength. In this study, PBT/polycarbonate (PC) blends at different ratios of 95/5, 90/10, 85/15, and 80/20 are investigated. Tensile strength, flexural strength, and unnotched Izod impact strength are studied according to the ASTM D638, ASTM D790, and ASTM D256 standards. The results show that tensile strength, which increased with increasing PC content, is 53.00, 62.34, 60.59, 62.98, and 64.46 MPa for 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% PC samples. Flexural strength and elastic flexural testing of PBT/PC blends are higher than neat PBT. In addition, the unnotched Izod impact strength of PBT/PC is also higher than PBT. However, when PC content increases, impact strength tends to decrease. Impact strength is 44.82, 80.46, 68.82, 50.45, and 48.05 kJ/m2 corresponds to 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% PC, in which 5% PC sample is twice as high as the impact strength of PBT. Microstructure of the blends has shown that PC has become dispersed phase in PBT matrix. The size and quantity of dispersed PC particles increase with increasing PC rate in the blend. Thus, when adding PC, PBT/PC all meet the requirements of high tensile strength, flexural strength, and high impact strength. The PBT/5% PC model gives the highest impact strength while still ensuring durability, which potential application for making car door handles.

Addition of compatibilized nanoclay to GFRCs for improved izod impact strength and tensile properties

This research examines the effect of nanoclay silanization/compatibilization on the izod impact strength and tensile properties of epoxy-clay-based glass fiber reinforced composites (GFRCs). As per the existing literature, a key step in silanization of clay is washing of the silanized clay with acetone to remove the excess of silane molecules. However, contrary to this, the present research shows that acetone washing of the silanized clay lowers the tensile properties. GFRCs containing 2 phr nanoclay were processed. Three different montmorillonite clays were used in the initial investigations (two organically modified nanoclays designated as “CA” and “IE” and one unmodified nanoclay designated as “PG”). Silane concentration was varied in the range of 100–400% as proportion of nanoclay loading (i.e. 1X, 2X, 3X, and 4X). Silanization was validated by FTIR. XRD/TEM revealed increased d-spacing for silanized nanoclay and a partially exfoliated clay morphology in GFRCs. Highest izod impact strength (37% higher than the reference GFRC) without any loss in tensile properties was observed for GFRC reinforced with acetone washed 2X silanized “PG” nanoclay. GFRCs reinforced with silanized unwashed nanoclay (3X) showed 27% improvement in izod impact strength with significantly improved tensile strength (16% higher than the reference sample).

PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL AND THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYMER COMPOSITES BASED ON RECYCLED POLYPROPYLENE FILLED WITH RICE HUSK

The relevance of the study is due to the deterioration of the environmental situation in the world associated with an increase of plastic waste, which determines the feasibility of developing methods for their involvement in recycling for the production of plastic products. Thereby, this article is aimed at studying the patterns of changes in the physical and mechanical and thermophysical properties of polymer composites based on recycled polypropylene filled with rice husk in the absence of compatibilizers. The leading approach to the study of this problem is the determination of the modulus of elasticity in flexure, tensile strength at break, strain-to-failure, and bending strain, bending temperature under load and Vicat softening temperature, Charpy V-notch impact energy and Izod impact strength, as well as the thermophysical parameters of polymer composites. The article shows that with an increase in the content of rice husk in a polymer composite based on recycled polypropylene, an increase in the modulus of elasticity in flexure occurs. Filling polypropylene with rice husk slightly reduces the tensile strength and significantly reduces the elasticity of the polymer. Recycled polypropylene has a higher Charpy V-notch impact energy than Izod impact strength. Filling the polymer with rice husk leads to a decrease in impact strength according to both Charpy and Izod, and with a compound content of more than 5 phr, both of these indicators are almost identical. In this case, there is a slight increase in the onset temperature of the composites, which determines their thermal stability during processing. It was revealed that polymer composites containing 2-10 mass parts of rice husk are characterized by an increased degree of crystallinity of the polymer phase. The materials of the article are of practical value for the processing of recycled thermoplastic polymers, as well as the creation of biodegradable polymer composites.

Toughened High-Flow Polypropylene with Polyolefin-Based Elastomers

Polyolefin is the most widely used and versatile commodity polymer. In this work, three types of polyolefin-based elastomers (PBEs) were adopted to toughen a high-flow polypropylene to improve its overall performance. The chain microstructures of these PBEs, including ethylene/1-octene (E/O) random copolymer from Dow Chemical′s polyolefin elastomer (POE), olefin block copolymers (OBCs) of E/O from Dow, and ethylene/propylene random copolymer from ExxonMobil’s propylene-based elastomer, were elucidated by GPC, 13C NMR, TREF, and DSC techniques. The mechanical, thermal and optical properties, and morphology analysis of the PP/PBE blends were also studied to investigate the toughening mechanism of these PBEs. The results showed that all three types of PBEs can effectively improve the Izod impact strength of the PP/PBE blends by the addition of the rubber compositions, at the cost of the stiffness. PBE-1 and PBE-2 were found to have a great stiffness–toughness balance with about 1700 MPa of flexural modulus, about 110 °C of HDT and 3.6 kJ/m2 of impact strength on the prepared PP/PBE blends by forming separated rubber phase and refined spherulite crystals. As a result, the OBC with alternating hard and soft segments could achieve a similar toughening effect as the E/P random copolymer. Surprisingly, no obvious rubber phase separation was observed in the PP/PBE-4 blend, which might be due to the good compatibility of the E/P random chains with the isotactic PP; therefore, the PP/PBE blend obtains great toughness performance and optical transparency with the highest Izod impact strength of 4.2 kJ/m2 and excellent transparency.

Fabrication and Study of Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Natural Fibre Composites Material Based on SCB and GNSP

To determine the possibility of using sugar- cane bagasse (SCB)and ground nut shell particulate(GNSP) waste as reinforcing ?ller in the thermo plastic polymer matrix, SCB&GNSP-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared. The PP and SCB and GNSP composites were prepared by the extrusion of PP and GNSP with 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt % of SCB and GNSP with 3,6,9 and 12% filler in a co rotating twin screw extruder.. The extruded strands were cut into pellets and injection molded to make test specimens. These specimens were tested for physical and mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, Izod impact strength shore D hardness and water absorption. It was found that the Tensile strength increased from 29.06 to 31.38 MPa, Flexural strength increased from 28.62 to 43.56 MPa, Izod impact strength decreased from 35.11 to 30.93 J/m, and Shore D Hardness increased from 64.88 to 77.89, with increase in filler loading from 5 to 20% in the PP matrix. The decrease in Izod Impact strength and elongation with addition of SCB & GNSP filler to PP matrix follows the general trend of filler effects on polymer matrix. However, the main purpose of this work was to study the effect of SCB & GNSP waste on the mechanical properties of the PP Composites. The SCB and GNSP waste can be used as filler in the PP composites, which will reduce cost and give environmental benefits.