TY  - MANSCPT
AU  - Farah Hafidzah Ahmad
TI  - Characterization and statistical study of compatibilized poly (lactic acid) /polypropylene / graphene nanoplatelets nanocomposites
SN  - THE0009190(Local)
PY  - 2021///
CY  - Kuantan, Pahang
PB  - UMP
KW  - Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology
KW  - Dissertations
KW  - Universities and colleges
KW  - Theses
N1  - Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology; Thesis (Master of Science) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang – 2021; Includes bibliographical references
N2  - Many researchers gave much attention to new biodegradable material from a renewable  source to ease the impact of petroleum-based conventional materials. One of them is poly  (lactic acid) (PLA), a commonly used material nowadays  due to its high strength and  modulus. However, its brittle thermoplastic features have led  to  limit  its wide application.  Polypropylene  (PP)  polymer  was  chosen  to  be  blended  with  PLA  to  overcome  the  limitation. But,  the combination of both materials was  immiscible, which led to poor  tensile strength. Various amount of polypropylene-grafted-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) and  graphene nanoplatelets (GNP)  were used to investigate their influence on the PLA/PP  blends. Both of PP-g-MA and GNP were loaded into PLA/PP blends  at 1 to 7phr and 1  to  5phr  respectively.  In  this  study,  all  the  samples  were  fabricated  using  injection  moulding machine and characterized for  the mechanical properties, thermal properties,  crystallinity, chemical structure changes, and morphology.  Besides that, a statistical study  also conducted to study the relationship between PP-g-MA and GNP in various ratio of  PLA/PP blends  using a full-factorial design (FFD).  A  remarkable improvement in the  ductility of PLA/PP blend  was  achieved by adding a PP-g-MA up to 5phr. The elongation  at break of the compatibilized PLA/PP blend are 18% and 59% higher than those of uncompatibilized PLA/PP and  PLA, respectively. The tensile strength of compatibilized  blends  also  improved  as  well  but  Young's  modulus  reduced.  The  thermogravimetric  analysis (TGA) showed that the thermal stability significantly increased as the  PP-g-MA was loaded in blends. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed  changed  in  the  glass  transition  temperature  (Tg)  and  cold-crystallization  temperature  (Tcc), but maintaining its melting temperature (Tm). PP-g-MA had dropped the degree of  crystallinity  (Xc),  but  it still  does  not  affect  the  strength  of  the  blends  produced.  The  Fourier-  Transform  Infra-red  (FTIR)  spectrum  was  also  confirmed  that  there  was  the  interaction between PP-g-MA and PLA/PP blends.  In that case, it was observed that PP  had  more  dispersed  in  the  matrix  blends.  The  reinforcement  of  GNP  also  provided  significant improvement in the blend's properties. GNP incorporation has increased the  Young’s modulus  and strength from 1 to 3phr, but the percentage elongation at break was  reduced.  The  thermal  stability  and  properties  of  the  blend  nanocomposites  also  were  improved as well. However, Xc  values were reduced. The Raman spectra were confirmed  that  no  GNP  damage  after  the  injection  molding  process  since  D,  G,  and  2D  were  detected. The surface morphology showed significant changes, which indicates that the  blend had been reinforced with GNP. Besides all these analyses, the statistical study also  proved that there had an interaction factor of PP-g-MA with GNP at various PP/PLA  blends  ratios  that  causes  a  positive  impact  on  the  tensile  strength  of  PLA/PP  blends.  Lastly, the PLA/PP/PP-g-MA/GNP nanocomposites with 5phr PP-g-MA and 3phr GNP  was the best composition among others
ER  -