Preparation of X‐ray developable LDPE/SA‐BaSO4 composites and their thermal and mechanical properties

Low density polyethylene (LDPE)/barium sulfate (BaSO4) composites with different contents of BaSO4 nanoparticles after modification by stearic acid (SA) were prepared. Characterizations of morphology, thermal, and mechanical properties of the LDPE/SA-BaSO4 composites were systematically performed by scanning electron microscope, thermal gravimetric analysis, tensile and flexural tests. Specially, the X-ray radiographic and developable properties were examined by the X-ray fluoroscopy test and the ageing resistant properties were analyzed by the simplified protocol of accelerated aging. It was found that the Young's modulus and tensile strength of the composites were increased by 24.6 and 11.0% while flexural modulus and flexural strength were increased by 10.8 and 14.0%, respectively, together with the elongation at break of 455.1% ± 26.3% which was 74.4% of LDPE when the SA-BaSO4 content reached 25 wt%. By contrast, when accelerated ageing for 5 years, the retention ratios of Young's modulus, tensile strength and elongation remained at 89.3, 69.5, and 69.6%, respectively. In addition, X-ray radiographic and developable properties of the composites were also improved by the addition of SA-BaSO4, making it possible to achieve some applications in medical devices such as intrauterine devices and body brackets which could be easily implanted into human bodies and enable accurate external monitoring using an X-ray medical diagnostic machine. POLYM. COMPOS., 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers