The Influence of Organoclay on Polypropylene Composite Films for Synthetic Paper

Abstract

The influence of type and content of modified montmorillonite (MMT) clay and amount of compatibilizing agent on physical-mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP)/organoclay films were studied. An unexpected decrease in tensile elastic modulus and yield stress was observed, and a striking drop in film density. SEM micrographs showed film microcavitation at polymer/clay interfaces. Experimental design analysis indicated that the most important parameter was the organoclay content: the higher the proportion of MMT, the lower the values of film properties. The addition of compatibilizer promoted an improvement in these film properties, probably due to the formation of less porous film.

Keywords:

• Extrusion
• Mechanical properties
• Polymer-matrix composites (PMCS)
• Statistical analysis

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to FAPESP for financial support and CNPq for a PhD scholarship, and also to Inpal Química and Quattor for the donation of the clays and PP, respectively. Help with sample preparation by Pedro Henrique Freiria de Oliveira and English language revision by Timothy Roberts are also greatly appreciated.

Notes

^a Organic, 1 = excess surfactant.

^b Organic, 2 = interlayer surfactant.