In this study, the effect of oleyl titanate coupling agent (oTi) treatment of blast furnace slag (BFS) on the thermal and mechanical properties and especially on the interfacial interactions in BFS filled polypropylene (PP) composites was investigated. The crystallinity of the composites decreases with increasing oTitreated BFS loading. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results show an effective surface modification of BFS particles. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements and scanning electron microscopy confirm good interfacial interactions between oTi-treated BFS and PP matrix. Elongation at break and elastic modulus are significantly increased up to 70% and 22%, respectively. These results are emphasized by a half-debonding angle of 37.61 which indicates strong interfacial adhesion between oTi-treated BFS particles and PP matrix. These results clearly show that oTi treatment significantly improves the compatibility between BFS particles and PP matrix. These results will encourage the recycling of BFS and reducing the cost of PP composites used in many industries.blast furnace slag, interfacial properties, mechanical properties, oleyl titanate coupling agent, polypropylene composites
| INTRODUCTIONAn effective route to improve the properties of polymers is the addition of fillers or nanofillers. Polymer composites are composed of a polymer matrix and a reinforcement. Due to their processing ease compared with thermosets, thermoplastic polymer matrices are desired materials for the preparation of polymer matrix composites. Among commodity polymers, polypropylene (PP) is particularly interesting due to its properties. This thermoplastic polymer presents high temperature resistance, good mechanical properties but also good chemical resistance and flame resistance. 1,2 Reinforcements can be in the form of fibers or particulates. The addition of fillers or nanofillers to make composites is widely used and various combinations of polymer matrix/inorganic fillers exist in literature. The use of inorganic fillers such as clay minerals (montmorillonite or sepiolite clay) 3-6 or hydroxyapatite 7 is quite common. Moreover, many studies that are focused on the use of inorganic nanoparticles such as silica, 8,9 zinc oxide, 10,11 copper oxide, 2,12 or titanium dioxide 13,14 also exist in the literature.This study is focused on polypropylene composites filled with a waste product, blast furnace slag. The interfacial interactions between the matrix and the filler are improved using an oleyl-titanate coupling agent. Good interfacial interactions are emphasized by a half-debonding angle of 37.61 . Elongation at break and elastic modulus are significantly increased up to 70% and 22%, respectively.