Abstract
Basalt fiber (BF), as an emerging natural and environmental-friendly material, possesses a broad application prospect. Herein, lightweight and strong BF reinforced polypropylene (BF/PP) composite foams were successfully prepared using mold opening foam injection molding (MOFIM) technology. It was revealed that the combination of increased crystallinity and enhanced rheological behavior in turn contributes to the improved foaming behavior of 20%BF/PP, which reduces the cell size of PP to 36.38 μm and boosts the cell density by a factor of 2 under an expansion ratio of 1.2. The improvement effect of BF on cell structure is more obvious at higher expansion ratio. This fine and dense cell structure further augments the impact performance and flexural modulus of BF/PP composite foams. Compared to pure PP, 20%BF/PP composite foams experienced an increasement of impact performance, which is increased by 68.8% to 2.7 kJ/m2, and its flexural modulus also elevated significantly by 224.8% to 2440.25 GPa. Due to its excellent weight reduction effect, the specific impact strength and specific flexural modulus remain at much higher levels than those of PP foam. This indicates that BF and MOFIM technique successfully prepared a ductile material with excellent impact resistance, modulus and thermal insulation properties.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
