Magnetic polypropylene nanocomposites: Rheological, electrical magnetic and thermal properties

A facile surfactant-free process is introduced to prepare multifunctional polypropylene (PP)/iron oxide (Fe 2O 3) nanocomposites with highly dispersed nanoparticles (NPs). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations confirm the uniform dispersion of NPs The melt rheology shows an obvious change in the frequency dependent storage modulus (G\u27), loss modulus (G ) and complex viscosity (ν*) particularly at low frequencies. These changes are often related to the NPs percolation threshold , which has also been verified in the sharp change of electrical resistance these nanocomposites in higher particle loadings. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) results reveal a surprisingly high enhancement by ∼115 °C in thermal stability after the incorporation of the NPs. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that the crystalline temperature (T c) of the nanocompsoites is reduced by 16-18 °C as compared to that of PP. The magnetic property of the nanocomposties is also investigated in this work