STUDIES ON MECHANICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POLY (PHENYLENE OXIDE) FILLED WOLLASTONITE MINERAL COMPOSITES

Poly (phenylene oxide) (PPO) polymer has outstanding strength, chemical resistance, and heat distortion temperature by virtue of which it has been very useful for industrial and automobile applications. In this work PPO composite of Wollastonite, with and without coupling agent has been devised. The study enunciates that Young’s modulus, tensile strength and extension at break of this composite [PPO + Wollastonite (25μm) 10% by wt] has increased and also cost saving of 10% has been reported. However, impact strength and MFI have been found to decrease marginally with the increase in % loading of Wollastonite in the polymer. The samples were analyzed for microstructure using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The values of 2-4% Silane modified Wollastonite (10 wt%) composite showed marginal higher values of Young’s Modulus, impact strength, tensile strength, and extension at break in comparison with that of untreated 10 wt% Wollastonite–filled PPO composites. At 2-4% Silane loading for 10% Wollastonite–filled PPO composites showed higher mechanical properties than PPO and untreated PPO composites. Mechanical properties of Wollastonite–filled PPO composites are decided by the filler content. Morphology of the tensile fracture surfaces of the composites establishes the improvement in interfacial interaction between filler and matrix.