Open AccessProperties of Oil Shale Ash Filled Polypropylene Composite Material: Mechanical and Physical Characterization
Author(s) -
Alaa Al-Shurafat,
Raid Banat
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
asian journal of chemistry/asian journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 0975-427X
pISSN - 0970-7077
DOI - 10.14233/ajchem.2021.23324
Subject(s) - polypropylene , ultimate tensile strength , composite material , differential scanning calorimetry , materials science , crystallinity , composite number , flexural modulus , izod impact strength test , scanning electron microscope , flexural strength , universal testing machine , tensile testing , physics , thermodynamics
The outcome of oil shale ash (OSA) filler addition on the mechanical, morphological, thermal andwater uptake properties of the polypropylene (PP) matrix was investigated. The test specimens wereprepared with various ratios of the mixtures that contain OSA and polypropylene in the followingweight percentages: 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% OSA in polymer matrix. Composites specimenswere produced by using a co-rotating twin screw extruder and a thermal press machine. The propertiesof the polymer composite specimens were characterized by using a universal testing machine (WDW-5)and izod impact testing machine (FI-68). The morphology of the composite samples was alsocharacterized by using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Impact strength and Young’s modulusof the OSA/PP composite formulations were consistently improved on OSA inclusion. On the otherhand, addition of OSA to pure polypropylene had consistently reduced the tensile stress at yield,tensile stress at rupture, tensile strain at yield and tensile strain at break. Adding OSA to polypropylenedecreased the maximum flexural stress and flexural strain of maximum force. The observed SEMconfirmed that the addition of OSA to pure polypropylene resulted in a significant increase in itsagglomerates and filler pullout. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results confirmed the additionof the OSA to pure polypropylene resulted in a significant decrease in normalized heat of crystallization,normalized enthalpy of melting. Where the degree of the crystallinity (Xc) of polymer compositedecreased from 59% to 34% for 0% and 40% OSA addition, respectively. While melting temperature(Tm) of the composite did not change (167 °C) the crystallization temperature (Tc) increased from116.6 °C to 127.1 ºC for 0% to 40% OSA addition, respectively. Water uptake, however, demonstrateddifferent behaviour. The initial addition of OSA to polypropylene increased the water uptake propertyup to 4% for the 40% filler addition. The results of this study demonstrated that the OSA could beused as reinforcement material for polypropylene, as long as good mechanical properties andhomogeneous morphology obtained.