Processing and characterization of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) blend-based glassy carbon (GC) composites

Polypropylene (PP)/ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) (60/40) blends-based glassy carbon (GC) composites with different contents of GC (0.1 to 5 wt%) were melting processed in a twin-screw extruder and the thermal, mechanical, electrical and morphological properties were evaluated to verify the effectiveness of the addition of GC as filler. Moreover, the effect of the addition of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP- g -MA) as a compatibilizer agent was also verified. The composites presented dispersed phase morphology with preferential localization of GC on interfacial regions and into the EVA phase. The mechanical properties were improved with the addition of PP- g -MA as a compatibilizer agent for the blend and the addition of GC had little influence on these properties. The results obtained from thermal properties revealed that the GC contributes to the increase in the degree of crystallinity and thermal stability of the composites. The addition of 0.1 wt% of GC increased the elastic modulus and the ultimate tensile strength without loss in the impact strength when compared to the compatibilized blend. The addition of GC increases a decade of magnitude in the electrical conductivity of the PP/EVA blends.