Development of nanoparticle-filled polypropylene-based single polymer composite foams

Ákos Görbe; László József Varga; Tamás Bárány

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19638

Development of nanoparticle-filled polypropylene-based single polymer composite foams

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 4;9(9):e19638. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19638. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Ákos Görbe¹, László József Varga¹, Tamás Bárány^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.
² MTA-BME Lendület Lightweight Polymer Composites Research Group, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

In this study, our focus was on developing and investigating nanoparticle-filled polypropylene-based single polymer composite foams. These composites had porous and nanotube-reinforced matrices, with plain woven polypropylene (PP) fabric as reinforcement. Our main objective was to enhance the energy absorption and stiffness of the single polymer composites (SPCs) by modifying their matrices. We produced SPCs with two different matrices: one of amorphous poly-alpha-olefin (APAO) and one of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) blended with APAO. We observed that the APAO matrix exhibited better impregnation of the fabric due to its low viscosity, while the composites with the TPE matrix showed significantly better tensile properties. The foaming process applied to the matrices resulted in a substantial increase in energy absorption for the SPCs, while preserving their tensile properties relative to their density. Scanning electron microscope images confirmed that foaming of the APAO matrix was notably more effective, primarily due to its low viscosity. Furthermore, we successfully enhanced the stiffness and tensile properties of the SPCs by nano-reinforcing the matrices with multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Due to the size of the nanotubes, this reinforcement did not compromise the impact properties of the SPCs. Scanning electron microscope images also demonstrated improved dispersion of the nanotubes within the APAO matrices.

Keywords: Foaming; Impact properties; Mechanical properties; Nanocomposites; Single polymer composites (SPC).