Synthesis and characterization of kaolin with polystyrene via in-situ polymerization and their application on polypropylene

To improve both the mechanical and thermal properties of kaolin/polypropylene (PP) composites, kaolin was modified by using 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propylmethacrylate (YDH-570) as a coupling agent to form polymerizable particle. Styrene was radically polymerized through the immobilized vinyl using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator. Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, particle size distribution, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) well demonstrated that the kaolin-polystyrene particles were successfully synthesized via in-situ polymerization. While the modified kaolin and raw kaolin were introduced into the PP matrix, it could be concluded that modified kaolin/PP composites have better mechanical and thermal properties than raw kaolin/PP composites, and these improvements were attributed to the desirable dispersion of kaolin in PP matrix.