Mechanical and rheological properties of composites based on polyolefin and mineral additives

The extensive range of fillers and reinforcing agents used nowadays indicates the major significance that these materials have attained. Although their original purpose was to lower the cost of the molding compounds; prime importance is now attached to selective modification of the properties of a specific plastic. In this paper results of rheological and mechanical analysis on polypropylene composites prepared with talc and CaCO3 are reported. The previous results showed that the addition of fillers provoked an increase in modulus of elasticity, stress at break and yield stress. It was also verified that melt viscosity increases with the addition of reinforcements. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.