Interaction of silane coupling agents with CaCO3

A study of eight silane coupling agents showed very different effect of these compounds on the mechanical properties of PP/CaCO3 composites. The application of aminofunctional silane coupling agents resulted in the reactive coupling of the two inactive components leading to increased strength and decreased deformability. A detailed study of the interaction between CaCO3 and the various coupling agents was carried out in order to find an explanation for the strong coupling effect. The amount of coupling agent creating a monolayer coverage was determined by a dissolution method for each coupling agent. The obtained values changed between 0.3 and 1.0 wt% calculated for the CaCO3. An attempt was made to determine the orientation of the adsorbed molecules to the filler surface. Most of the coupling agents are oriented perpendicularly to the surface with the exception of a methacryl functional silane compound. Possible interactions between hydrolyzed or condensed silane coupling agents and the filler were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy using transmitting (FTIR-TS) and diffuse reflectance (DRIFT) modes, as well as gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The results showed that bulky organofunctional groups form a caged, polycyclic, low-molecular-weight structure on the surface, while silanes with smaller groups tend to condense into open, ladder type, high-molecular-weight polysiloxane chains. Polymer/filler adhesion, however, depends primarily on the chemical character of the organofunctional group. Aminofunctional silane coupling agents adhere well to the filler surface and react also with the polymer. In the case of similar functionality the size of the organofunctional group determines the strength of the adhesion. (C) 1997 Academic Press.