Influence of the compounding route on the properties of polypropylene/nano-CaCO3/ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer tercomponent composites

The influence of the compounding route of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM)/nano-CaCO3 composites on their properties, including their mechanical properties, the dispersion degree of nano-CaCO3, and the morphology of EPDM, was studied. The results showed that the toughness of the composites and the morphology of the EPDM particles were markedly influenced by the compounding route, whereas the dispersion degree of nano-CaCO3 in the matrix was little influenced by the compounding route. The impact strength of composites prepared by one route was about 60 kJ/m(2) with 20 wt % nano-CaCO3. The results indicated that a sandbag of nano-CaCO3 embedded in EPDM could effectively improve the toughness of the composites. A sandbag composed of EPDM and nano-CaCO3 eliminated the deterioration effect of the nano-CaCO3 agglomerate on the toughness of the composites, whereas the nano-CaCO3 agglomerate separately dispersed in PP decreased the toughness of the tercomponent composite (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 2268-2272,2006