Influence of Filler Incorporation on Mechanical Properties for Polypropylene/Elastomer/Filler Ternary Composite

We investigated the influence of fillers on the mechanical properties of PP/elastomer/filler ternary composites and thus were able to control the impact fracture behavior from brittle to ductile by changing the contents of the elastomer. We found that the modulus increased with increasing filler incorporation and decreased with increasing elastomer incorporation. Furthermore, we found that the impact strength of the brittle fracture matrix polymer increased with adding all type of fillers used in this study. In particular, it increased significantly by adding a filler with a diameter of 0.12 mu m. Matrix polymers that show ductile fracture, the impact strength was significantly increased by adding fillers with a diameter below 2.5 mu m. On the other hand, it decreased by adding fillers with a diameter above 3.0 mu m. Tensile yields stress decreased with both filler and elastomer incorporation. Fillers with a diameter above 3 mu m gave lower tensile yield stress than that fillers with a diameter below 2 mu m.