Mechanical and thermal properties of poly(vinyl chloride) composites filled with carbon microspheres chemically modified by a biopolymer coupling agent

Abstract

In this study, carbon microspheres (CMSs) were prepared using l(+)-ascorbic acid by hydrothermal carbonization and then modified with a polyether titanate coupling agent (eTi4000) and a self-synthesized biopolymer coupling agent (CCS), respectively. These modified CMSs (mCMSs) were added into poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) to prepare mCMSs/PVC composites. The results suggest that CCS has a better modification effect than eTi4000, which imparts CCS-CMSs/PVC composites with good thermal stability and mechanical properties. The impact strength of CCS-CMSs/PVC composite (8.7 kJ m−2) is remarkably increased by 64.2% compared with that of CMSs/PVC composite (5.3 kJ m−2), and its rapidest decomposition temperature (309 °C) is increased by 29 °C and 16 °C in comparison with that of PVC and CMSs/PVC composite, respectively. The interfacial interaction between PVC and mCMSs is evaluated by dielectric loss and DMA. In conclusion, CCS is an effective biopolymer coupling agent that can endow CCS-CMSs/PVC composites with good comprehensive properties.