Effects of reactive compatibilization on the performance of nano-silica filled polypropylene composites

Excerpt

Nano-sized inorganic particles have been widely used in recent years as fillers in polymers to improve their toughness [1, 2] and tribological performance [3, 4]. However, homogeneous dispersion of the nanoparticles in polymeric matrices is very difficult because the particles with high surface energy are easy to agglomerate. In addition, the hydrophilic nanoparticles and the hydrophobic polymers are not compatible in nature, which has to result in poor interfacial bonding. All of these deficiencies obstruct effective utilization of inorganic nanoparticles in polymer composites. To lower surface energy of inorganic nanoparticles, surface pre-treatment that aims at improving dispersibility of the powders in polymers and tailoring the interfacial interaction is highly desired. Many approaches have been proposed so far, including coupling agents [5, 6] and grafting modification [7‐10], whereas most of them did not consider the possibility of reactive compatibilization. As a result, physical interaction generally predominates the interfacial interaction between the treated nanoparticles and polymer matrices. …