influence of hydroxyapatite on the tensile and hardness properties of polypropylene

This paper presents the effect of Hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles on the mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP) with different weight percentages. Nanocomposites containing PP, 4 wt.% of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA), HA at four different concentrations (1, 3, 5, 7 wt.%) were prepared using the melt-compounding technique in a twin-screw extruder and were produced by injection molding machine in order to perform the tests of mechanical properties. The bulk mechanical response of the nanocomposites such as tensile and hardness properties were studied. The results of mechanical tests showed that addition of nHA to PP matrix improved the tensile strength, elastic modulus and hardness of PP at the expense of its tensile ductility. Moreover, results revealed that adding weight percentages of HA nanoparticles leads to the improvement of tensile and hardness characteristics. The highest tensile strength and modulus and hardness obtained by nanocomposite with 7 wt.% HA. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to assess the fracture surface morphology and the dispersion of the nanoparticles. It demonstrated that nHA were well dispersed and homogeneously distributed in the PP matrix

influence of hydroxyapatite on the tensile and hardness properties of polypropylene Keywords:

Nanocomposite , Hydroxyapatite , Mechanical properties , Polypropylene , Experimental study