Morphology and Properties of Polyoxymethylene/Polypropylene/Microcrystalline Cellulose Composites

Abstract

The effects of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) on mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of polyoxymethylene (POM)/polypropylene (PP) blends at different compositions were investigated. The blends and composites were prepared by melt mixing using an internal mixer at 200°C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed phase separation between POM and PP phases due to the difference in polarity of POM and PP. When adding the MCC in the blends the morphology slightly changed due to the weak interaction between MCC and polymer phases. Incorporation of MCC at 5 phr could improve Young’s modulus of POM/PP blends. The storage modulus of the blends was improved after adding MCC 5 phr due to reinforcing effect of the MCC. The thermal properties found that the addition of MCC had no effect on the melting temperature of the blends. The blends exhibited higher decomposition temperature than pure POM. The blends showed the decomposition temperatures increased when increasing amount of PP content, which were higher than pure POM. Therefore, it may be inferred that the addition of PP could enhance the thermal stability of the POM/PP blends, but the addition of MCC did not improve the thermal stability.