Effect of Alumina Ceramic Powder Dispersion on Mechanical Properties of PolyPropylene Polymers

The objectives of this paper are study effect of dispersion of hard alumina (Al2O3) microparticles-filled polypropylene (PP) composites. Al2O3/PP composites containing 1.0 - 5.0 wt% of the Al2O3 were prepared through melt blending and specimens were produced through injection moulding technique. This study sets out to evaluate the influence of adding hard particles to the mechanical properties of the composite obtained while keeping the processing characteristics of the material. The material was characterized as thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The tensile tests performed showed an increase in the mechanical properties of the composite (modulus and elongation (%)) by increasing the Al2O3 content. The SEM images show a change in the fracture behavior between pure PP (brittle fracture) and Al2O3/PP composites containing 3.0 and 5.0 wt % (ductile fracture). The research aims to establish a new parameter for the development of products and advances in the application of this material.