Abstract
In situ grafting of a reactive matrix and nanofillers is a promising strategy to fabricate graft-type polypropylene (PP)-based nanocomposites, where the grafting efficiency is affected by the initial dispersion of nanofillers in the matrix. In this work, influences of surface organic modification of nanofillers were investigated on properties of PP/SiO2 nanocomposites using poly(propylene-co-octenyltrimethoxysilane) as a reactive matrix. The surface modification of SiO2, especially with longer alkyl chains, led to improved dispersion of nanoparticles, thus promoting the grafting reaction and mechanical properties. The combination of in situ grafting and surface modification of nanofillers provided several benefits, most notably in balancing the strength and the toughness, which could not be achieved by the grafting alone.
Highlights
Polymer nanocomposites, consisting of at least one phase having dimensions smaller than 100 nm [1], have attracted great interest owing to their potential applications in different industrial sectors
Grafted PP chains improve the compatibility between nanofillers and the PP matrix, they co-crystallize with the matrix to strengthen interfacial interaction [38]
PP (Mn = 6.3 × 104, Mw/Mn = 3.9, stereoregularity = 95 mol%) and PP-OTMS (Mn = 7.3 × 104, Mw/Mn = 3.7, mmmm = 98 mol%) were synthesized using a 5th-generation Ziegler-Natta catalyst according to our previous study [39]. n-Heptane was dried by N2 bubbling in the presence of molecular sieve 3A prior to use
Summary
Polymer nanocomposites, consisting of at least one phase having dimensions smaller than 100 nm [1], have attracted great interest owing to their potential applications in different industrial sectors. The hydrophobicity and chemical innerness of PP make uniform dispersion of nanoparticles challenging, for which various strategies have been reported These include the use of a compatibilizer such as maleic anhydride-grafted PP [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25], surface modification by organic compounds [26,27,28], polymer grafting [29,30,31,32,33], propylene polymerization in presence of nanofillers [34], in situ formation of nanofillers [35,36,37], and so on. Interchain reaction among methoxy groups creates a crosslink network, which co-contributes to the improvement in mechanical properties
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