Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene/Polycarbonate Blends

• Main Author: JOHAN, AHMAD SY AMIL
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2011
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/7514/1/2011%20-%20Mechanical%20properties%20of%20polypropylene-polycarbonate%20blends.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/7514/

Nowadays Polypropylene (PP) I Polycarbonate (PC) blends have received interest in polymer study and tests have been done to explore its properties and behavior. This project aim to further characterize PP/PC blends compatibilized with polypropylenegraft- maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) with varying weight composition in the area of water absorption and tensile strength. In a practical field, organic polymer materials have been shown to express some advantages such as light weight, high strength, anti-rust, and easily processable. These advantages were based on the comparison with metal and inorganic materials. However, polymer materials degrade under various circumstances for example low and high temperature, exposure to rain and sunlight, and under the water or soil. Some plastics absorb very little water at room temperature but at higher temperature it tends to absorb high amount of water and will lose properties rapidly. Eight weight ratios are considered and they are 85/10/5, 75/20/5, 65/30/5, 55/40/5, 85/15/0, 75/25/0, 65/35/0, and 55/45/0 in PP/PC/PP-g-MA respectively. The glass transitional and melting temperatures of PP, PC, and PP-g-MA were obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the values were consistent with literature. Meanwhile, degradation temperatures of samples were obtained by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Then, the polymers were compounded in twin screw extruder and fabricated by compression and injection moulding. Water absorption test were follow the ASTM Standards: D 570-98 (Reapproaved 2005) Standard Test Method for Water Absorption of Plastics and Tensile Test were follow ASTM D638 Standard Test Method for Tensile properties of rigid plastic.