Study on the Effect of Polypyrrole and Polypyrrole/Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles on the Microstructure, Electrical and Tensile Properties of Polypropylene Nanocomposites

In this article Polypropylene/Polypyrrole (PP/PPy) and Polypropylene/polypyrrole-graphene oxide (PP/PPy-GO) nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing. PPy nanoparticles and PPy-GO nanocomposite were prepared by chemical polymerization and served as nanofillers. FTIR, XRD and SEM analysis were used for the characterization of PPy and PPy-GO composites. The effects of PPy and PPy-GO loading level on the morphology, tensile and electrical properties of PP-based nanocomposites were examined. It was found that the Young's modulus and tensile strength increased with the increase of nanofiller content. Tensile results also showed that PPy-GO composite significantly affected the mechanical properties of PP based nanocomposites compared to the PPy nanoparticles. It was observed that the addition of 1% wt. PPy-GO into PP, increased the Young's modulus about 30% compared as with pure PP. Electrical conductivity measurements showed that conductivity of PP nanocomposites increased up to 1 x 10(-3) S/cm for PP/PPy-GO nanocomposites. It was also observed that PP-g-MA improved the distribution of PPy and PPy-GO nanocomposites and affected the morphology, electrical and mechanical properties of PP-based nanocomposites.