Preparation and properties of modified zirconium dioxide reinforced poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)

Inorganic particles dispersed in the polymer matrix can enhance the strength of polymers. In this paper, 3-Glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH560) and 2-Amino-1,3-propanediol were used to surface modify Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) to prepare modified Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), denoted as ZrO2-g. The modified ZrO2-g was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic hydrogen (1HNMR) spectroscopy, and the results showed that the modification was successful. Then the PBAT/ZrO2-g composites were synthesized by grafting ZrO2-g into poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) molecular chain segments using in situ copolymerization. The results showed that ZrO2-g acted as a nucleating agent and improved the crystallinity of poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT). The rheological behavior analysis showed that the composite viscosity, storage modulus and loss modulus of PBAT/ZrO2-g composites were improved compared to PBAT. The ZrO2-g content had a significant effect on the tensile properties of the composites, and the composites had the highest tensile strength and elongation at break when the ZrO2-g content was 1% wt, reaching 23.27 MPa and 888.89%, respectively, which were increased by 60% and 38%, respectively, compared with PBAT. When the content of ZrO2-g exceeds 1.5 wt%, aggregation phenomenon occurs, which rather reduces the performance of the composites. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of the composites decreases with the increase of ZrO2-g incorporation.