Study of morphology and mechanical properties of PP/EPDM/clay nanocomposites prepared using twin-screw extruder and friction stir process

In this paper, PP/EPDM nanocomposites with 5 wt% nanoclay are fabricated by friction stir processing (FSP) and compared to the results obtained via a conventional twin screw extruder (TSE). Also, the effects of process parameters of these process on morphology and mechanical properties of this nanocomposites are investigated using Taguchi analysis. The prepared PP/EPDM/clay nanocomposites by two methods were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and mechanical property tests. Comparison of the results of these methods indicated that PP/EPDM/clay nanocomposite fabricated by FSP had a better dispersion of nanoclay and mechanical properties. The results show that by addition of 5 wt% nanoclay to the base material, the tensile strength and tensile modulus of FSP sample are 12% and 8% higher than the TSE sample. The TGA results shows that, the temperature at 50% weight loss for PP/EPDM blend is 382 degrees C. While this temperature for TSE and FSP samples are 395 degrees C and 406 degrees C, respectively. Under optimal conditions of rotational speed of 1,200 rpm, traverse speed of 50 mm/min, shoulder temperature of 100 degrees C and number passes of 3, simultaneous maximization of tensile strength (19.35 MPa), tensile modulus (643 MPa), impact strength (63 J/m) and elongation at break (101%) can be obtained. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:3306-3314, 2019. (c) 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers