Assessment of thermo-mechanical, dye discoloration, and hygroscopic behavior of hybrid composites based on polypropylene/clay (illite)/TiO2

This study aims to develop a new low carbon composite material using illite clay and titanium dioxide as a stabilizing and whitening agent. It investigates the effect of the inclusion of titanium dioxide nano-powder and illite particles on optical, thermal, and mechanical performances of polypropylene (PP) matrix. The composite samples based on binary (PP-illite) and ternary (PP-illite-titania) composites at various particle contents of illite-titania have been manufactured by using a melt-compounding technique. The results showed that the low loading of titania has a significant effect on the whiteness index of the composites. The comparative analysis also demonstrated that the thermal stability was increased by approximately 7% in the case of the composites reinforced by the illite-titania at 18:2 wt%. Moreover, the addition of titania powder leads to ensure stabilization of tensile strength properties for all composites and also allowing Young’s modulus to gain increase of 83% for the composites reinforced by 2 wt% of titania powder. As for the addition of titanium dioxide until 5 wt%, an improvement in the aesthetic appearance of the composites is well noted by slightly decreasing the other specific properties. By combining the useful with the pleasant, and from different results obtained, it is proposed to use an optimal percentage of titania is less than 2% without impacting the hygroscopic and resistance of ternary composites and enhancing the rigidity of polymer products.