Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene/Polycarbonate Blends

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.