Role of Fillers on Physico-Mechanical Properties of POM Based Hybrid Composites

Abstract

Silicone (SC) and polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) reinforced polyoxymethylene (POM) composites have been fabricated by melt mixing followed by injection moulding. Physical and mechanical properties of SC and SC+PTFE/POM composites have been investigated as per ASTM standards. The dispersion of fillers in POM was studied by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects indicated that the hardness of the POM matrix decreases with increasing the SC content and slight increase in hardness was found in SC+PTFE/POM. The mechanical performance of the composites are investigated by means of a well known universal testing machine and notched Charpy impact tester. The POM with 10 wt. % of SC binary composite reveals good mechanical properties. The tensile and flexural properties of SC+PTFE/POM hybrid composites are higher than that of 20 and 30 wt. % SC reinforced POM binary composites. Further, these mechanical strength and impact toughness are established on the kind as nicely as filler loading over the full range of the study. The uniform dispersion of the filler in the POM matrix is obtained from SEM micrographs. Furthermore, SEM was used to identify the fractographic points of the tensile fractured POM based composites.