Morphology, mechanical, and crystallization behaviors of micro- and nano-ZnO filled polypropylene composites

The aim of this study was to study the effect of ZnO concentration on the morphology, mechanical, and crystallization behaviors of iPP. Three compositions of iPP/mZnO and iPP/nZnO composites were prepared in a co-rotational twin-screw extruder machine with ZnO content of 2 wt%, 5 wt%, and 8 wt%. Tensile tests showed that the tensile strength at yield and tensile modulus of the composites tended to increase with increasing contents of mZnO/nZnO particles. This improvement in the tensile properties was attributed to good interfacial adhesion between the fillers and the matrix, as evidenced by TEM examination. The tensile strength at yield and tensile modulus values of iPP/nZnO composite with the addition of 2-8 wt% nZnO are higher than those of virgin iPP, and even higher than those of iPP/mZnO composite with the addition of 2-8 wt% mZnO. The non-isothermal crystallization behavior of iPP/mZnO and iPP/nZnO composites was investigated using DSC. The results indicated that the interfacial interaction between iPP and mZnO/nZnO increased the crystallization temperature when the content of ZnO is 5 wt%.