Morphological, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene and Vermiculite Blends

Morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of blends prepared from polypropylene (PP) and 1, 3 and 5 wt% of vermiculite (VMT) were studied. The samples were prepared in a twin-screw extruder. The addition of maleic anhydride-functionalized polypropylene (PP-g-MAH) was also investigated. The blend morphologies were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal properties of the composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The DSC results showed that PP crystallizes on cooling at higher temperatures as VMT content increases. The increase in crystallization temperature was most evident for blends with 5 wt% VMT. The TGA results showed that the use of VMT particles to fill polypropylene increased the thermal stability of the composite. The mechanical properties, tensile modulus and tensile strength at yield point of the PP improved by the presence of VMT.