New Polypropylene-boron Oxide Composite with a High Tensile Strength: A Possible Method for the Conversion of Microcomposite to Nanocomposite

Abstract

Industrially viable blends having microstructures that can be converted into a nanostructured material by post chemical treatments, potentially should have a commercially viable solution to the development of nanostructured materials for practical applications. In this regard a polypropylene-boron oxide (PPBO) blend provides a model study here. In this paper we wish to report the synthesis of PPBO blends with different concentrations of boron oxide by melt grafting and through reactive extrusion. The tensile strengths of the ideal blend has been found to be 62% higher than polypropylene (PP). By chemically treating the blends for a period of 24 hours to 72 hours the tensile strength of the blends increased by 152%. The blends have been characterized by fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An interesting characteristic of the PPBO blend has been the development of surface potential that changes upon visible light excitation. The increased tensile strength has been attributed to the conversion of micro structured blends to nanostructured blends. The improvement in thermal stability can be attributed to a good PP matrix-oxide interaction and also due to the thermal conductivity of the boron oxide. The good dispersion of the nanotubes in the polymer matrix allows the spreading of heat uniformly along the fiber.