Fabrication and Analysis of Sepiolite/Glass Microcapsules/Liquid Crystal Polymer Composites

Abstract

Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) composites filled with sepiolite and glass microcapsules were prepared by melt compounding. The composites were extruded using a twin-screw extruder and injection-molded. The objective of this study is to check a possibility of producing a polymeric composite with a low dielectric constant. Physical characteristics of the composites, such as morphological, rheological, mechanical, and electrical properties were analyzed. In particular, the glass microcapsule-reinforced LCP composites showed a significant improvement in lowering the dielectric constant due to its high air content. Additionally, sepiolite could act as an effective filler to improve the mechanical properties of the composites.

Keywords

• liquid-crystalline polymers (LCP)
• glass microcapsules
• sepiolite
• injection molding
• physical characteristics