Ultrahigh Low-Temperature Toughness of Polypropylene Composites with Low Ductile-Brittle Transition Temperature by Introducing Traces of Needlelike Wollastonite

Abstract

In order to survive harsh settings, such as outer space, deep sea and high plains, needlelike wollastonite fibers (WF) were incorporated into polypropylene/ethylene octene block copolymer/β-nucleating agent (PP/OBC/β-NA) blends with the hope of tailoring the low-temperature toughness. The results revealed that WF showed very satisfactory toughening effects in the PP/OBC/β-NA/WF composites at low temperature (–20 °C). The impact strength of the WF-0.05 was as high as 32.1 kJ/m² at −20 °C, which was 286.6% higher than that of the WF-0 sample, and even 832.6% higher than that of the pure PP sample. SEM characterization showed that by simultaneously adding WF and β-NAs, much coarse and tremendous plastic deformation appeared in the WF-0.05 after impacting. The low-temperature toughening mechanism is systematically discussed. The increase of β-crystallinity, caused by the synergy of β-nucleating agent and WF fillers, was mainly responsible for the enhancement of the impact strength of the composites with WF. On the other hand, when the transmitting of the stress, the overlapping of the stress and the hindering effect of WF on cracks occurred simultaneously; it resulted in the excellent low temperature toughness of the PP composites. Such outstanding-performance material with the advantages of facile processing and low cost is unprecedented. It shows a promising future application in many fields, especially aerospace, navigation, and the automotive industry.

Keywords:

• ductile-brittle transition temperature
• low-temperature toughness
• polypropylene

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation of China (No. 52003219 and 51473135) and the Programs Supported by Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (No. 202003N4370). We also would like to thank the Analytical & Testing Center of Northwestern Polytechnical University for the SEM measurements.