The Tribologic and Thermomechanic Properties of Polypropylene Filled with CaCO3 and Anhydrous Borax

Abstract

There are few studies showing the industrial application of boron compounds. In this study, boron compounds are used as fillers in plastic materials in order to increase the use of these raw materials. The effect of anhydrous borax mineral in the thermomechanical and tribologic properties of both calcium carbonate (CaCO3) unfilled and CaCO3 filled polypropylene (PP) material is investigated. Wear and thermomechanical properties of specialized PP material containing additives are examined by using pin-on disc wear tester, DSC, TMA and Shore D hardness testers. This study is the first to use boron (anhydrous borax) compounds as an additive in industrial plastics. As a consequence of the increase in the amount of boron in the samples, the friction coefficient also increases. An increase in the amount of CaCO3 used as an additive in the samples containing the same percentage of boron reduces the friction coefficient. Using anhydrous borax and CaCO3 as additives in a natural PP material did not create a considerable change in the crystalline melting temperature of the material. Weight loss increases for anhydrous borax, while it decreases for CaCO3 compared with natural PPB. If the amount of anhydrous borax is increased, the weight loss increases too. The minimum weight loss is seen for 10% CaCO3. This increases with an increasing amount of CaCO3 and is close to natural PPB.