EFFECT OF TALC SURFACE-TREATMENT ON THE MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITES BASED ON PP/LDPE BLEND MATRICES

A study has been made of property optimization of a composite based on low density polyethylene and polypropylene (PP) blend matrices with talc modified by a titanate coupling agent. Analysis shows that the flexural properties improve with increasing content of both talc and polypropylene. However, the tensile moduli show a different behavior. Tensile strength is hardly affected by the filler content at PP percentages in the matrix above 50 percent. The surface modified talc gives rise to higher mechanical properties than the unmodified talc. This improvement is more noticeable as talc and PP percentages in the composite is increased. Scanning electron microscopy has shown the effect of the coupling agent at the filler/polymer matrix interphase and the greater affinity between talc and polypropylene.