WEAR IS THE ANSWER? ENHANCED PROPERTIES FROM METALLOCENIC ISOTACTIC POLY(PROPYLENE)S WITH SILOXANE-TYPE ADDITIVES

ANGEL J. SATTI ; ERICA C. MOLINARI; AUGUSTO G. O. DE FREITAS; WALTER R. TUCKART; CRISTIANO GIACOMELLI ; ANDRÉS E. CIOLINO; ENRIQUE M. VALLÉS

Ghent

Conferencia; APME 17 The 12th International Conference in Advanced Polymers via Macromolecular Engineering; 2017

By using poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and PDMS-based copolymers as additives, it is possible to improve and alter the superficial, crystalline, tribological and extrusion properties of commercial polyolefins.[1-6] Moreover, the scratching resistance of polypropylene (PP) can be enhanced with polyester modified siloxane copolymers. This enhancement is becoming increasingly important in several specific applications, such as the automotive industry.Abrasive wear behavior of different metallocenic isotactic propylene (iPP) homo and copolymers was studied along with their mixtures with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) homo and copolymers. Mechanical, thermal, microscopic and spectroscopic features were also studied in order to infer the effect of PDMS-based additives in the mixtures. A reduction up to ten times the original wear value of the polyolefins was observed for the samples prepared with PCL-b-PDMS copolymers, in which PCL corresponds to poly(caprolactone) block. Blends of iPP with comparable quantities of similar molar masses of PCL or PDMS have a lower decrease in wear or none at all, respectively. However, blends with PDMS of higher molecular weight showed a significant decrease in wear rate.