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

Conferencia; The 12th International Conference on ?Advanced Polymers via Macromolecular Engineering (APME 2017); 2017

By using poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and PDMS-based copolymers as additives, it is possible to improveand 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 siloxanecopolymers. This enhancement is becoming increasingly important in several specific applications, such as theautomotive industry.[1,2]Abrasive wear behavior of different metallocenic isotactic propylene (iPP) homo and copolymers was studiedalong 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 inthe mixtures. A reduction up to ten times the original wear value of the polyolefins was observed for the samplesprepared with PCL-b-PDMS copolymers, in which PCL corresponds to poly(caprolactone) block. Blends of iPPwith comparable quantities of similar molar masses of PCL or PDMS have a lower decrease in wear or none atall, respectively. However, blends with PDMS of higher molecular weight showed a significant decrease in wearrate.