Effect of Zinc Oxide on Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Polyoxymethylene/Zinc Oxide Composites

This paper studies the effects of zinc oxide (ZnO) on morphology and mechanical properties of pure polyoxymethylene (POM) and POM/ZnO composites. POM/ZnO composites with varying concentration of ZnO were prepared by melt mixing technique in a twin screw extruder. The dispersion of ZnO particles on POM composites was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is observed that the dispersion of ZnO particles is relatively good. The mechanical properties of the composites such as tensile strength, stress at break, Young's modulus and impact strength were measured. Increasing content of ZnO up to 4.0 wt% increases the impact strength of POM. Addition of ZnO beyond 4.0 wt% decreases the impact strength. The composites containing ZnO content greater than 2.0 wt% show increased Young's Modulus. The tensile strength and stress at break decrease with increasing ZnO content. This may be due to the compatibility between ZnO and POM.