Mechanical properties of polyphenylene oxide/talc composites with and without coupling agent

Polyphenylene oxide (PPO) is an engineering polymer with high amorphous and good dimension stability commonly used in the automotive and electrical industry. Application of PPO is restricted because of its high price as compared to other thermoplastic polymer. Talc is inorganic natural filler and is widely used as filler material in polymer composite, as it is a cheap filler and easily available and save the final cost of the composite. Improvement in mechanical properties and thermal stability of the composite is achieved by loading optimum quantity of talc in polymer composite. In the present research work, PPO composite filled with 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% untreated talc and surface-treated talc with silane coupling agent are fabricated and their mechanical properties are studied. Talc filled PPO composites with silane coupling agent and without silane coupling agent was compounded in twin-screw counter-rotating having L/D ratio 25:1 and 16 mm diameter extruder for various compositions, and test specimens...