Potential Applications In Automotive Industries Research Articles

Effects of halloysite nanotubes on the mechanical, thermal, and flammability properties of PP‐g‐MAH compatibilized polyethylene terephthalate/polypropylene nanocomposites

This work investigates the effect of HNTs content on the mechanical, thermal and flammability properties of polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (PP‐g‐MAH) compatibilized polyethylene terephthalate/polypropylene (PET/PP) blends. The synthesized composites were characterized after compounding using a twin‐screw extruder and injection‐molding machine. The tensile, flexural and impact strengths values peaked at 2 parts per hundred resin (phr). Thermogravimetric analysis showed a marked improvement in thermal stability of the fabricated composites. A gradual increase in T50 and Tmax with increasing HNTs content was observed. The limiting oxygen index revealed a linear relationship with HNTs content. Transmission electron microscopy images showed uniform dispersion of nanotubes at lower HNTs content and agglomerated structures were formed at higher HNTs content due to inter‐tubular interactions both in face‐to‐face or face‐to‐edge manner. The improvements in thermal stability and flammability are attributed to these interactions. Due to improved mechanical properties and flammability, the fabricated composites have potential applications in automotive industries. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E1554–E1564, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

Synthesis and characterization of advance PA6‐b‐PDMS multiblock copolymers

ABSTRACTAdvance polyamide‐6‐b‐polydimethylsiloxane (PA6‐b‐PDMS) multiblock copolymers were first synthesized via the polymerization in bulk. Binary carboxyl terminated PA6 was served as the hard segment and PDMS modified with hexamethylene diisocyanate (PDMS‐NCO) was the soft segment. A series of PA6‐b‐PDMS copolymers based on different content and length of soft segments were obtained. Interestingly, Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies revealed no obvious change in melting temperature after introducing PDMS segments to copolymers. The high melting temperatures indicated these copolymers possess potential applications in automotive industry that require high continuous use temperatures. DSC and transmission electron microscopy studies both demonstrated increasing the length and the content of the soft segment contributed to increasing of the degree of microphase separation. However, the improvement of thermal stability resulting from PDMS segments was also observed by thermo gravimetric analysis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41114.

Rice husk as reinforcing filler in polypropylene composites

Commodity plastics such as polypropylene can be reinforced with lignocellulosic materials such as rice husk, available in the environment in abundance. Bonding between the polymer and rice husk can be improved by proper selection of compatibilizer or coupling agents. Thermoplastic composites thus prepared have potential applications in automotive industries and as good building material.