Polypropylene/Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposite Fiber Production and Characterization

Nanotechnology has become one of the most popular research areas of all technical disciplines. In most of the nanotechnology applications, polymeric matrixes are used as the dispersion medium for the nanoparticles. In this study, TiO2 loaded PP nanocomposite fibers preparation and their properties are investigated. The melt spinning method is applied to prepare nanocomposite fibers, including 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 wt % filler content, using a laboratory-scale twin screw micro-compounder (DSM Xplore). While the thermal properties of the obtained fibers were determined by using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) methods, crystalline structure of the samples were determined via X-ray diffarctometer (XRD). Morphology and mechanical properties of fibers were assigned with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile tests. Depend on X-ray diffraction results; they have semi crystalline structure and α-phase crystal structure. With addition of nanoparticles, the tensile properties of the samples increased. In our opinion these nanocomposite fibers can be used in technical and medical applications, such as sutures, wound dressings, meshes, bandage, hospital clothes, water filters, gas filters, floor and wall covers