Mechanical and Morphology Properties of Polypropylene/Nano-CaCO3 Composites

To provide polypropylene (PP) with better excellent mechanical properties, nano-CaCO3 particles are incorporated into PP matrix by melt blending in this work. To improve the mophology between PP and nano-CaCO3, maleic-anhydride grafted PP (PP-g-MAH) was added as a compatibiliser. The results showed that PP-g-MAH indeed enhanced the interfacial adhesion of PP/nano-CaCO3 composites, which is demonstrated by the measurement of scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results of tensile tests revealed that the inclusion of nano-CaCO3 slightly increased modulus and decreased tensile strength and significantly increased the elongation at break. At high fraction of nano-CaCO3, the elongation at break was declined. The nano-sized feature, shape and dispersion conditions of nano-CaCO3, played important roles in determining the performances of PP/nano-CaCO3 composites.