silane coupling agent

How to use silane coupling agent with polypropylene

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There are two basic approaches for using silane coupling agents. The silane can either be used to treat the surface of the inorganic materials before mixing with the organic resin or it can be added directly to the organic resin.

 

The Surface Treatment of Inorganic Materials

 

There are two general methods for treating the surfaces of inorganic filler materials before they are added to the organic resins.

 

(1) Wet Method
By mixing a slurry of the inorganic materials in a dilute solution of the silane coupling agent, a highly uniform and precise surface treatment of the inorganic material can be obtained.

 

(2) Dry Method
A high shear, high speed, mixer is used to disperse the silane coupling agent into the inorganic materials. The silane is generally applied either neat or as a concentrated solution. When compared to the Wet Method, the Dry Method is most often preferred for large-scale production, treating a large amount of filler in a relatively short time and generating relatively little mixed waste; however, it is more difficult to obtain uniform treatment with this method.

 

 

Addition To Organic Materials

 

Compared to the methods for the surface treatment of inorganic materials, adding the silane to the organic resin is more widely used in industries because of its excellent process efficiency, although curing may be more difficult. There are two general methods.

 

(1) Integral Blending
This method involves simple blending of the silane coupling agent into the composite formula as the inorganic and organic materials are mixed together.

 

(2) Master Batch
In this method, the silane coupling agent is first added to a small amount of the organic resin material to form what is referred to as a “master batch”. Usually in the form of pellets or large granules, the master batch can be easily added along with the pellets of the organic resin when producing the composite materials.

 

How to use silane coupling agent with polypropylene

The application of silane coupling agents to polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene is also under active investigation and Sterman et al. have reported that the combined use of an organic peroxide and a double bond-containing silane such as vinyl silanes and methacrylic silanes is effective on polypropylene in remarkably improving the properties of the FRTP of the polymer.

 

Hartlein has reported that a good coupling agent for polypropylene is 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane and a synergistic effect can be obtained by the combined use of an aminoalkyl silane and a highly chlorinated compound such as a chlorinated xylene.

 

Silane treated feldspar filled polypropylene composites can be prepared using a Polydrive Thermo Haake internal melt mixer. The tensile strength, elongation at break, Young’s modulus, and impact strength can be increased in silane treated composites. The improvement in tensile strength and elongation at break is due to enhancement of the interfacial adhesion between feldspar and PP matrix. FTIR spectra analyses can be performed on the untreated feldspar/PP composites and the silane treated feldspar filled PP composites to study the interaction between the polypropylene —(C—H2), feldspar (—OH) group and the amino functional group of silane.

 

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