Glass fiber and Nanoclay Reinforced Polypropylene Composites: A study of the Morphological, Thermal and Dynamic Mechanical Behaviors

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP), E-glass fiber (GF) and nanoclay (NC) were compounded with a twin-screw extruder and injection molded. The morphology, thermal and dynamic mechanical behaviors of PP/GF/NC nanocomposites were investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results revealed an intercalated morphology. DSC results showed that the melting temperature (Tm) and the degree of crystallinity (Xc) was deeply influenced by the presence of the GF and NC in the matrix. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed an increase in storage modulus (E’) in PP/GF/NC composites. The tan δ spectra presented a strong influence of GF and NC content on the magnitude of tan δmax value.