Relationship between microstructure, mechanical properties and flame retardancy for a submicronic composite

Overview & Synopsis

The present study focused on the mechanical and thermal properties of a Polyamide(PA6)/Kaolinite composite. Several kaolinites (showing different shape factor) with appropriate surface treatments (showing more or less affinity with the matrix) are incorporated in PA6 inducing a high level of disparity in the composite morphology. For each composite, kaolinites dispersion and distribution is obtained by a statistical analysis from MEB and optical micrographs. Mechanical and thermal tests (uniaxial tensile test, Charpy impact test, cone calorimeter test) are conducted on each composite. It was found that: first the higher is the interparticular distance, the lower are both the Young modulus and the resilience, second the higher is the kaolinites median diameters, the lower is the yield stress and the higher is peak of Heat Release (pHRR).