ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Engineered Interphases in Particulate Filled Polypropylene

J. Jančář, A. T. Dibenedetto, and A. Dianselmo

Institute of Materials Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Technical University, CZ-637 00 Brno

Abstract: The yielding behaviour of PP filled with 30 vol. % inorganic fillers has been investigated as affected by the presence of a soft engineered interphase layer (EIL) strongly adhering to the surface of individual filler particles. Strong interaction between the filler surface and EIL has been achieved via grafting the elastomer with maleic anhydride. A substantial increase in the yield strength, sigma(yc), has been observed for composites containing rigid core-elastomer shell inclusions compared to composites filled with an equal volume fraction of the fillers themselves. The observed changes have been attributed to the change in local state of stress and connectivity of yielded microzones due to the presence of EIL on the particle surface. Experimental results were in a good agreement with a recently proposed theory.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 504a228.pdf

Chemical Papers 50 (4) 228–232 (1996)