Enhanced thermal, mechanical and fire-retarding properties of polystyrene sulphonate-grafted-nanosilica/polypropylene composites

Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) nanocomposites have been prepared by melt blending PP with polystyrene sulphonate-grafted-silica nanoparticles (pSS-g-nanosilica) at 190 °C. The weight% of pSS-g-nanosilica was varied from 1 to 5. The unmodified and pSS-g-nanosilica were characterised by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-vis spectroscopy. The produced nanocomposites were characterised by differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimetry, limiting oxygen index (LOI) determination and tensile strength analysis.