Abstract
The main objective of this research was to investigate the effect of chitosan content and chemical modification with acetic acid on mechanical and thermal properties of PP/Chitosan. It was found that the tensile strength, elongation at break and crystallinity of untreated PP/Chitosan composites decreased with increasing filler content; however, Young's modulus and thermal stability increased. The treated chitosan with acetic acid have improved the tensile strength and Young's modulus of PP/Chitosan composites. The thermal analysis results show that chemical modified chitosan had increase thermal stability and crystallinity of treated PP/Chitosan composites. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of the tensile fracture surface of treated PP/Chitosan composites indicated that the presence of acetic acid increased the interfacial interaction between chitosan and polypropylene matrix.
Notes
php = part per-hundred polymer.