Investigation on mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of injection molded PP-TiO2 composites

Abstract

Abstract In this study of composite materials, by injection molding process Polypropylene -TiO2 (PP- TiO2) composite were fabricated. TiO2 was added in 5 to 20 wt% in PP and mechanical and thermal characterization of injection molded PP-TiO2 composites were explored. Shore hardness test, flexural test, compressive strength, Izod impact test for mechanical characterization were performed for the fabricated composites as per ASTM standards. DMA and TGA were performed for the thermal characterization of the fabricated composites. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed for surface morphological characterizations. The result reveals that Shore hardness and compressive strength increases with increment in TiO2.Maximum hardness and compressive strength was found in composite having 20 wt% TiO2 which was 25% and 87.3% higher than virgin PP, respectively. The highest flexural strength was achieved13.7% higher than virgin PP in 5 wt% filler loading. No improvement was observed in impact strength due to hardness of inorganic particle. During DMA, at lower temperature (30 °C) the storage modulus (E') was in the range of 630–1030 MPa. During TGA, composite with 10 wt% shows higher thermal stability and its onset of degradation temperature increased by 80 °C.