Melt-spinning and thermal stability behavior of TiO2 nanoparticle/polypropylene nanocomposite fibers

Abstract

The elongational flow properties of TiO2 nanoparticle/polypropylene (PP) nanocomposite fibers were studied via melt spinning. The diameter, tension, and flow rate of fibers were directly measured and used to calculate the apparent elongational viscosity and apparent elongational strain rate using Cogswell’s theory. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to demonstrate that the TiO2 nanoparticles improved the thermal stability of the PP fibers. With a 1–3 wt % loading of the TiO2 nanoparticles, the PP fiber decomposition temperatures ranged from 338 °C for the pristine polymer to 342, 349, and 367 °C; the decomposition was accompamied by an initial 95 wt % weight loss. In addition, the well-distributed morphology of the TiO2 nanoparticles on the side surface of the PP matrix was observed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). At 1 wt % loading of the TiO2 nanoparticles, the surfaces of the PP nanofibers contained mono-disperse nanoparticles with sizes of 20–50 nm. Furthermore, the TiO2 nanoparticle/PP nanocomposite fibers were shown to be thermally stable and are suitable for application as an antibacterial polymer.