Effect of Inorganic Fillers on Morphology and Mechanical Properties of PA66/POE-g-MAH/Filler Composites

Composites of polyamide 66 (PA66)/maleic anhydride grafted poly(ethylene-co-octene) (POE-g-MAH)/nano-calcium carbonate (nano-CaCO₃) and PA66/POE-g-MAH/talc were prepared by a one-step blending method. Morphology, crystallization, and mechanical properties of the composite materials were characterized with respect to different amounts of both inorganic fillers, nano-CaCO₃ and talc. Results showed that the tensile yield strength and tensile modulus of the composites were increased remarkably with introduction of nano-CaCO₃ or talc, but the notched impact strength was significantly lowered for both kinds of composites. Mechanical properties exhibited little difference between the PA66/POE-g-MAH/nano-CaCO₃ and PA66/POE-g-MAH/talc composites both for the different shapes and sizes of nano-CaCO₃ and the flake-like talc. Results of scanning electron microscopy exhibited agglomeration of the fillers. Differential scanning colorimetry analysis suggested that introduction of the inorganic fillers cause the crystallinity of PA66 to decrease by heterogeneous nucleation. The study provides a basic investigation on polymer/elastomer/rigid filler composites.