Mechanical Properties and Morphology of Nanoclay Filled Different TPU/PP Blend Nanocomposites: Structure - Property Relations

Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) (based on ether and ester polyols) were blended with nonpolar polypropylene (PP). Nanoclay was used to reduce the surface energy of the TPU hard segments and make them more compatible with the nonpolar PP. More compatible blends were obtained by using MA-g-PP as the compatibilizer. Blends were produced by melt mixing using a twin screw extruder. Compared to the ether-TPU-based blend nanocomposites, the ester-TPU blends show better compatibility as confirmed by DMA, Tensile strength, XRD, SEM, and AFM analysis.