Interfacial interactions in silica-reinforced polypropylene nanocomposites and their impact on the mechanical properties

The main focus of this study is to characterize the interfacial interactions between silica nanoparticles and polypropylene and to investigate how the surface properties and morphology of the silica nanoparticles affect the elastic response of the silica-polypropylene composites. The composites were prepared by melt compounding and injection molding. Both non-functionalized and dimethyldichlorosilane-functionalized silica nanoparticles were used. Three-component composites were also prepared by including selected formulations of both poly(propylene-g-maleic anhydride) copolymer (PPgMA) and different types of silica. It was found that both silica types are nucleating agents for PP and significantly alter its crystallization behavior. A strong correlation between the glass transition temperature (T-g) and the tensile modulus in silica-PP nanocomposites indicated the presence of a secondary reinforcing mechanism that is the pinning of the polymer chains on the silica surface. The presence of a complex constrained phase, represented by immobilized amorphous and transcrystalline phases, forming at the filler surface, was assessed by modulated differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. Finally, the interfacial interactions were correlated to the tensile and viscoelastic properties using the theoretical models proposed by Pukanszky and Sumita et al., respectively, and comparing the predictions of the models to experimental results.