Evaluation of hybridizing talc and surface-treated kaolin on the properties of PP hybrid composites
In this article, the effects of kaolin surface treatment on mechanical, morphological, and thermal behavior of PP/talc/ kaolin hybrid composites with different filler ratio were studied. Kaolin was pre-treated with QAC and SHMP, in order to eradicate the attraction of kaolin interparticle forces. It was found that both types of treatments enhanced the toughness of the composite remarkably. Although the tensile and flexural strength of the treated composites reduced with increasing amount of kaolin, it was still acceptably higher than the untreated composite. The enhancement of flexural modulus of the treated composites was attributed to the improvement of filler dispersion as observed by SEM results. In the light of the results achieved, the QAC proved to be more effective as dispersant for kaolin filler. This finding was further confirmed by thermal analysis and MFI study which shows that the properties of QAC-treated kaolin composites were comparable to the properties of talc-filled PP composite.