Influence of mold temperature and annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ESO-plasticized PP/CL composites

Document Type : Original research

Authors

1 Faculty of Engineering and Technology, King Mongkuk’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Rayong, Thailand

2 Department of Materials and Medical Technology Engineering, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

Abstract

Composites of polypropylene (PP) and calcium lactate (CL) with a constant weight percentage of 60% and 40%, respectively, were compounded with 3, 5 and 7 phr of epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) plasticizer using an internal mixer. The testing samples were prepared using an injection molding technique. The effects of the mold temperature and annealing treatment on the morphological and mechanical properties of PP-based composites using polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), universal testing machines (UTM), and impact tester were performed. The results showed a remarkable increase in the elongation-at-break and impact strength, but a noticeable decrease in tensile strength and stiffness with increasing ESO contents. The experimental results also indicated that the higher mold temperature significantly improved the tensile strength and stiffness of samples due to an increase in spherulite size for neat PP, PP/CL composite and PP/CL composite with 3 phr of ESO. Additionally, annealing treatment enhanced the tensile and impact strengths of both neat PP and PP/CL composite, which was attributed to the increase in the crystal perfection and degree of crystallinity. These findings suggested that mechanical improvements using high mold temperature and annealing treatment were confined to the incorporation of an ESO plasticizer. The resulting performance of the plasticized PP composites after thermal treatment was described by two possibilities: the loss in the adhesion between the components and the migration of plasticizer.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Essabir H, Raji M, Laaziz SA, Rodrique D, Bouhfid R, Qaiss AEK (2018) Thermo-mechanical performances of polypropylene biocomposites based on untreated, treated and compatibilized spent coffee grounds. Compos B Eng 149: 1-11 [CrossRef]
  2. Das O, Bhattacharyya D, Hui D, Lau KT (2016) Mechanical and flammability characterisations of biochar/polypropylene biocomposites. Compos B Eng 106: 120-128 [CrossRef]
  3. Oliver-Ortega H, Chamorro-Trenado MÀ, Soler J, Mutjé P, Vilaseca F, Espinach FX (2018) Macro and micromechanical preliminary assessment of the tensile strength of particulate rapeseed sawdust reinforced polypropylene copolymer biocomposites for its use as building material. Constr Build Mater 168: 422-430 [CrossRef]
  4. Mir SS, Nafsin N, Hasan M, Hasan N, Hassan A (2013) Improvement of physico-mechanical properties of coir-polypropylene biocomposites by fiber chemical treatment. Mater Des 52: 251-257 [CrossRef]
  5. Nakatani H, Motokucho S, Miyazaki K (2015) Preparation of novel polypropylene oligomer compatibilizer for polypropylene/microfibrous cellulose composite and its addition effect. Polym Bull 72: 2633-2647 [CrossRef]
  6. Mazian B, Bergeret A, Benezet JC, Malhautier L (2020) Impact of field retting and accelerated retting performed in a lab-scale pilot unit on the properties of hemp fibres/polypropylene biocomposites. Ind Crops Prod 143: 111912 [CrossRef]
  7. Al-Mulla EAJ, Suhail AH, Aowda SA (2011) New biopolymer nanocomposites based on epoxidized soybean oil plasticized poly(lactic acid)/fatty nitrogen compounds modified clay: preparation and characterization. Ind Crops Prod 33: 23-29 [CrossRef]
  8. Dai X, Xiong Z, Na H, Zhu J (2014) How does epoxidized soybean oil improve the toughness of microcrystalline cellulose filled polylactide acid composites? Compos Sci Technol 90: 9-15 [CrossRef]
  9. Balart JF, Fombuena V, Fenollar O, Boronat T, Sánchez-Nacher L (2016) Processing and characterization of high environmental efficiency composites based on PLA and hazelnut shell flour (HSF) with biobased plasticizers derived from epoxidized linseed oil (ELO). Compos B Eng 86: 168-177 [CrossRef]
  10. Orue A, Eceiza A, Arbelaiz A (2018) The effect of sisal fiber surface treatments, plasticizer addition and annealing process on the crystallization and the thermo-mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) composites. Ind Crops Prod 118: 321–333 [CrossRef]
  11. Quiles-Carrillo L, Duart S, Montanes N, Torres-Giner S, Balart R (2018) Enhancement of the mechanical and thermal properties of injection-molded polylactide parts by the addition of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil. Mater Des 140: 54-63 [CrossRef]
  12. Meng X, Bocharova V, Tekinalp H, Cheng S, Kisliuk A, Sokolov AP, Kunc V, Peter WH, Ozcan S (2018) Toughening of nanocellulose/PLA composites via bio-epoxy interaction: mechanistic study. Mater Des 139: 188-197 [CrossRef]
  13. Paul UC, Fragouli D, Bayer IS, Zych A, Athanassiou A (2021) Effect of green plasticizer on the performance of microcrystalline cellulose/polylactic acid biocomposites. ACS Appl Polym Mater 3: 3071-3081 [CrossRef]
  14. He Y, Zhou Y, Wu H, Bai Z, Chen C, Chen X, Qin S, Guo J (2020) Functionalized soybean/tung oils for combined plasticization of jute fiber-reinforced polypropylene. Mater Chem Phys 252: 123247 [CrossRef]
  15. Zhou H, Ye L, Li S, Li Z, Wei Z, Huang Z, Lu S, Chen D, Zhang Z, Li Y (2022) A bio-based compatibilizer (ESO-g-S-HPG) to improve the compatibility and mechanical properties of CaCO3/HDPE composites. Compos Sci Technol 219: 109251 [CrossRef]
  16. Yang J, Lu S, Pan L, Luo Q, Song L, Wu L, Yu J (2017) Effect of epoxidized soybean oil grafted poly(12-hydroxy stearate) on mechanical and thermal properties of microcrystalline cellulose fibers/polypropylene composites. Polym Bull 74: 911-930 [CrossRef]
  17. Fischer C, Jungmeier A, Peters G, Drummer D (2018) Influence of a locally variable mold temperature on injection molded thin-wall components. J Polym Eng 38: 475–481 [CrossRef]
  18. Muñoz-Pascual S, Lopez-Gonzalez E, Saiz-Arroyo C, Rodriguez-Perez MA (2019) Effect of mold temperature on the impact behavior and morphology of injection molded foams based on polypropylene polyethylene-octene copolymer blends. Polymers 11: 894 [CrossRef]
  19. Damiani RA, Duarte GW, Silva LL, Muneron de Mello JM, Batiston ER, Riella HG, Fiori M A (2017) Influence of mold temperature associated with glass fiber on the mechanical and thermal properties of a (PA6/GF/MMT) nanocomposite. Rev Mater 22 [CrossRef]
  20. Fredi G, Broggio L, Valentini M, Bortolotti M, Rigotti D, Dorigato A, Pegoretti A (2024) Decoding the interplay of mold temperature and catalysts concentration on the crystallinity and mechanical properties of anionic polyamide 6: a combined experimental and statistical approach. Polymer 311: 127562 [CrossRef]
  21. Liparoti S, Salomone R, Speranza V, Pantani R (2024) Morphology Distribution in Injection Molded Parts. Polymers 16: 337 [CrossRef]
  22. Leyva-Porras C, Esneider-Alcala M A, Toxqui-Teran A, Marquez-Lucero A, Aguilar-Martinez J A (2013) Effect of molding parameters on Young's modulus of an injection molded low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Ind Eng Chem Res 52: 5666-5671 [CrossRef]
  23. Nagarajan V, Zhang K, Misra M, Mohanty AK (2015) Overcoming the fundamental challenges in improving the impact strength and crystallinity of PLA biocomposites: influence of nucleating agent and mold temperature. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 7: 11203-11214 [CrossRef]
  24. Gu X, Hong R, Leng J, Hu M, Fu Q, Zhang J (2020) Evolution of iPP/HDPE morphology under different mold temperatures via multiflow vibration injection molding: thermal field simulation and oriented structure. Ind Eng Chem Res 59: 6741-6750 [CrossRef]
  25. Jiang J, Wang S, Sun B, Ma S, Zhang J, Li Q, Hu GH (2015) Effect of mold temperature on the structures and mechanical properties of micro-injection molded polypropylene. Mater Des 88: 245–251 [CrossRef]
  26. Karagöz İ (2021) An effect of mold surface temperature on final product properties in the injection molding of high-density polyethylene materials. Polym Bull 78: 2627–2644 [CrossRef]
  27. Zhao X, Liao T, Lu Y, Jiang Z, Men Y (2021) Formation and distribution of the mesophase in ultrasonic micro-injection-molded isotactic polypropylene. Macromoleculs 54: 5167-5177 [CrossRef]
  28. Bai H, Wang Y, Zhang Z, Han L, Li Y, Liu L, Zhou Z, Men Y (2009) Influence of annealing on microstructure and mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene with b-phase nucleating agent. Macromolecules 42: 6647-6655 [CrossRef]
  29. Wang W, Zhao G, Wu X, Zhai Z (2015) The effect of high temperature annealing process on crystallization process of polypropylene, mechanical properties, and surface quality of plastic parts. J Appl Polym Sci 132: 42773 [CrossRef]
  30. Ma Y, Wang X, Liu W, Gong W, He L (2018) Effects of annealing process on crystallization and low temperature resistance properties of PP-R composites. J Wuhan Univ Technol Mater Sci Ed 33: 855-862 [CrossRef]
  31. Liu Z Y, Wu Z T, Yan J, Yang W, Yang MB (2019) Effect of Annealing Temperature on PP Microporous Membranes Obtained by a Melt-Extrusion-Stretching Method. Int Polym Process 34: 467-474 [CrossRef]
  32. Yu W, Wang X, Yin X, Ferraris E, Zhang J (2023) The effects of thermal annealing on the performance of material extrusion 3D printed polymer parts. Mater Des 226: 111687 [CrossRef]
  33. Zennaki A, Zair L, Arabeche K, Benkraled L, Maschke U, Berrayah A (2022) Effect of annealing on thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid). J Appl Polym Sci 139: e53095 [CrossRef]
  34. Hortós M, Anakabe J, Arrillaga A, Espino S, Bou JJ (2019) Effect of the annealing procedure and the molecular weight on the crystalline phase morphology and thermal properties of polylactide. Polym Int 68: 1767-1775 [CrossRef]
  35. Suksut B, Khamsiang P, Sinsawat C, Kesorn N (2021) Calcium lactate as renewable filler of polypropylene: thermal, morphological and mechanical properties. Suan Sunandha Sci Tech J 8: 1-8 [CrossRef]
  36. Gopnna A, Mandapati RN, Thomas SP, Rajan K, Chavali M (2019) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) of polypropylene (PP)/cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) blends for qulitative and quantitative analysis. Polym Bull 76: 4259-4274 [CrossRef]
  37. Sedlarik V, Galya T, Emri I, Saha P (2009) Structure and conditioning effect on mechanical behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol)/calcium lactate biocomposites. Polym Compos 30: 1158-1165 [CrossRef]
  38. Liao N, Joshi MK, Tiwari AP, Park CH, Kim CS (2016) Fabrication, characterization and biomedical appllication of two-nozzle electrospun polycaprolactone/zein-calcium lactate composite nonwoven mat. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 60: 312-323 [CrossRef]
  39. Wypych G (2017) Handbook of Plasticizers, ChemTech Publishing
  40. Howard W, Starkweather Jr, Brooks RE (1959) Effect of spherulites on the mechanical properties of nylon 66. J Appl Polym Sc 1: 236-239 [CrossRef]
  41. Maiti SN, Mahapatro PK (1989) Crystallization of PP in PP/Ni composites and its correlation with tensile properties. J Appl Polym Sci 37: 1889-1899 [CrossRef]
  42. Way JL, Atkinson JR, Nutting J (1974) The effect of spherulite size on the fracture morphology of polypropylene. J Mater Sci 9: 293-299 [CrossRef]
  43. Chan CM, Wu J, Li JX, Cheung YK (2002) Polypropylene/calcium carbonate nanocomposites. Polymer 43: 2981-2992 [CrossRef]
  44. Popli R, Mandelkern L (1987) Influence of Structural and Morphological Factors on the Mechanical Properties of the Polyethylenes. J Polym Sci Pol Phys 25: 441-483 [CrossRef]
  45. Yu B, Geng C, Zhou M, Bai H, Fu Q, He B (2016) Impact toughness of polypropylene/glass fiber composites: Interplay between intrinsic toughening and extrinsic toughening. Compos B Eng 92: 413-419 [CrossRef]
  46. Kurusua RS, Siliki CA, David É, Demarquette NR, Gauthier C, Chenal J M (2015) Incorporation of plasticizers in sugarcane-based poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)(PHB): Changes in microstructure and properties through ageing and annealing. Ind Crops Prod 72: 166-174 [CrossRef]
Polyolefins Journal
Volume 11, Issue 4 - Serial Number 26
December 2024
Pages 265-275

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 09 October 2024
  • Revise Date: 12 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 13 November 2024
  • First Publish Date: 13 November 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics