Nano-TiO2 effect on thermal, rheological and structural properties of thermoplastic polypropylene nanocomposites

Abstract

In this paper, nanofillers obtained by Sol–gel method have been incorporated as a filler in polypropylene composite in order to improve the thermal, rheological properties and ensuring a good interface compatibility of the resulting material. Nano-TiO2 were synthesized based on the sol–gel process and supercritical drying of ethanol in attempt to study the thermal stability, structure, and morphology of the resulting nanoparticles powders. The impact of nano-TiO2 on the degree of crystallinity, thermal and rheological properties was studied using DSC, TGA and rheology technique. The obtained results revealed that, the sphere is composed of 20–30 nm nanoparticles with excellent thermal stability. Based on TGA and DSC study the molar ratio of TiO2 influences the final thermal stability and degree of crystallinity of the polypropylene matrix. From DMA testing, it was found that the best viscoelastic belong with incorporation of 5Wt. %TiO2. It was found that the use of 5Wt. %TiO2 seems to be an effective and very promising way to increase the rheological properties of the resulting composite.

Keywords

• Aerogel
• Polymer
• Sol–gel
• Thermal stability
• Rheological behavior
• Nano-TiO2