A statistical approach to investigate the effects of multicomponent fractions on the mechanical properties of PP/PPMA/Talc/POE composites

An immense technological challenge of polypropylene-based composites is in optimising the effect of multicomponent fractions on their mechanical properties. Hence the main aim of the present study is to carry out a systematic statistical approach to investigate the impact of multicomponent fractions on the mechanical properties of Polypropylene (PP)/Talc/ Polyolefin Elastomer (POE) and maleic-anhydride-grafted Polypropylene (PPMA) composites. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on Central Composite Design (CCD) has been implemented as the design of experiment technique. With respect to CCD and three different weight percentages of Talc (0, 15, 30 wt%), POE (0, 10, 20 wt%), and PPMA (0, 2.5, 5 wt%), 17 experiments were designed and prepared via a conventional melt blending technique. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with diagnostic figures has been proposed to derive mathematical models to predict the mechanical properties of the utilised PP based composite. The findings showed that the concentration of POE, particularly at a lower amount, play a significant role and can predominantly affect the properties of the composites. The results also revealed that in spite of Talc and PPMA, adding of POE caused a noticeable rise in ductility and toughness of composite and a reduction in the stiffness. It was also found that all the assessed properties can be maximized simultaneously, providing the content of Talc, POE, and PPMA set to be 30%, 6.228%, and 2.514%, respectively. The findings are found to be aligned with the scanning electron microscopy micrographs and the DSC analysis data.