Articles
  • Thermomechanical characteristics of HDPE/CaCO3/LDPE-g-MA composites for melt-mixing conditions
  • Youngjun Ahna, Ji Whan Ahnb and Choon Hana,*
  • a Department of Chemical Engineering, Kwangwoon University, 20 Gwangun-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 139-701, Korea b Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 124 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
Abstract
The novel characteristics of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/calcium carbonate (CaCO3)/maleic anhydride grafted lowdensity polyethylene (LDPE-g-MA) composites were examined in relation to the reaction temperature and the amount of LDPE-g-MA for melt mixing conditions. HDPE/CaCO3/LDPE-g-MA composites were prepared by melt mixing. The tensile strength of the composites decreased with increase in CaCO3, but thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the composites had higher thermal stability than pure HDPE. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis showed that the crystallinity (Xc) and crystallization entropy (ΔSc) of the composites decreased with increase in temperature and the amount of LDPE-g-MA. These results were consistent with the activation energy (Ea) derived from the Kissinger method. This study demonstrates that the composites were influenced by the temperature and the amount of LDPE-g-MA. In addition, a certain amount of CaCO3 is expected to act as a stable nucleating agent, which thus accelerates the crystallization rate.

Keywords: Hybrid composites, Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs), Thermomechanical properties

This Article

  • 2017; 18(2): 127-136

    Published on Feb 28, 2017