Preparation of polypropylene/hydrophobic silica nanocomposite

Abstract

In this work, iPP composite masterbatch containing 18 wt% hydrophobic silica was initially prepared
by melt mixing in a twin screw co-rotating extruder. The effect of PP wax addition on silica particle’s
dispersibility was also studied. The masterbatch then compounded with virgin PP again at various ratios to
obtain the nanocomposites containing 1, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt% silica, respectively. After that, iPP/hydrophobic
silica nanocomposite films were produced by compression moulding. The nanocomposites were characterized
using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties were observed with tensile test.