RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYPROPYLENE FILLED WITH MAGNESIUM-HYDROXIDE

Consideration is given to the dynamic viscoelastic and shear flow properties of magnesium hydroxide-filled polypropylene, at a filler concentration of 60 wt%. Five variants of magnesium hydroxide were used, one surface-treated with magnesium stearate. The results reported illustrate the effects of filler particle size, morphology and surface coating on the theology of the composites. The presence of magnesium hydroxide caused a significant increase in the shear viscosity of polypropylene relative to unfilled polymer, although this was much less pronounced using surface-treated filler, particularly at low shear rates. Complex viscosity and storage modulus data, obtained at very low shear rates (0.002 s(-1)), demonstrated the presence of a critical shear yield stress for flow to occur, which was greatest for compositions containing uncoated fillers with small particle size. These observations are discussed in terms of structure formation between the particles. Results obtained from capillary and dynamic measurements of melt flow were found to follow the Cox-Merz rule.