Toughening effect of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer on the properties of fly ash‐reinforced polypropylene‐based composites

Abstract

In general, particulate reinforcement is known to greatly enhance the polymer composite rigidity at the expense of its ductility. Therefore, careful addition of elastomers can restore the composites toughness without sacrificing their stiffness. Thus, this work investigates the effect of TPU elastomer (thermoplastic polyurethane) on the ductile character of fly ash‐reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites. First, fly ash powder with particle‐size less than 63 μm (FA) was analyzed in terms of its physico‐chemical properties. The as‐characterized FA fine powder was then incorporated into PP polymer matrix to produce 50/50 wt% PP/FA masterbatch using extrusion process. Thereafter, the as prepared masterbatch was used to elaborate three polymer composite series by modifying the amount of FA and TPU via injection molding process. Binary and ternary PP composites filled with 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt% of FA or 80%FA/20%TPU or 50%FA/50%TPU were successfully manufactured. The resulted composites series were characterized in terms of their structural, morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties. It was found that the addition of FA into PP composites improved the composites' rigidity but reduced their ductility, due to the high reinforcing ability of FA particles. However, the inclusion of TPU to the binary PP/FA system exhibited a beneficial effect for restoring the ductility without a dramatic loss in stiffness, due to the toughening effect of TPU elastomer and improved interfacial adhesion. Overall, the above results suggest that a balance between the ratios of rigid particles and elastomer in a polymer matrix produces a multiphase polymer system with optimal mechanical performance, which make them promising materials for engineering applications.

Development of 3D printable cenosphere‐reinforced polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) filaments for lightweight structural applications

“…The incorporation of the hollow micro-balloons in PETG significantly decreases experimental density. The filament containing 10 wt% of CS had the lowest experimental density of 1.088 g/cm 3 and the highest porosity of 11.33%. The low experimental density of the 10 wt% CS filament is due to poor interfacial adhesion bonding between the PETG and CS particles, leading to the generation of a large number of voids or pores at the interface of CS and PETG.…”

“…The density of the PETG matrix is 1.27 g/cm 3 , and the density of the cenosphere is 0.8 g/cm 3 . To determine the amount of porosity included in the composite filament, the ASTM D2734-94 standard and Equation (3) 20 were utilized in the calculation process.…”

Effect of silicon dioxide and organized montmorillonite on the crystalline morphology and dielectric properties of polypropylene‐based composites

“…[4] Still, its toughness can be significantly improved by blending with hightoughness thermoplastic elastomers. [5][6][7][8] Polyolefin elastomer (POE), a thermoplastic elastomer synthesized by metallocene catalysts, possesses excellent mechanical and processing properties and is frequently used for toughening PP. However, the blending of POE with PP induces steric conformational defects in PP, which can reduce the blend's dielectric properties.…”

Effect of zinc oxide nanoparticle size on the dielectric properties of polypropylene‐based nanocomposites

“…To overcome this drawback, researchers have blended with high-tenacity thermoplastic elastomers to toughen PP. [5][6][7][8] Polyolefin elastomer (POE) is a thermoplastic elastomer with excellent mechanical and processing properties, including high heat resistance but also good compatibility with PP. Thus, it is an ideal material to improve the mechanical properties of PP.…”

“…However, PP cannot be processed directly for use in high‐voltage insulated cables because of its high rigidity and low toughness. To overcome this drawback, researchers have blended with high‐tenacity thermoplastic elastomers to toughen PP 5–8 . Polyolefin elastomer (POE) is a thermoplastic elastomer with excellent mechanical and processing properties, including high heat resistance but also good compatibility with PP.…”