• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.106-111
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• 2008

Polypropylene (PP)/corn starch master batch (starch-MB)/silicate composites with different corn starch compositions of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 were prepared by melt compounding at $200^{\circ}C$, using lab scale Brabender mixer. The content of silicate was fixed at 5 wt%. The composition of starch-MB in composites was confirmed by the existence of hydroxy group and peak intensity in fourier-transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectrum. The thermal properties of the PP/starch-MB/silicate composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). There was no district change in melting temperature, and TGA curve indicates a decrease in degradation temperature with the increase of starch-MB content. The silicate dispersion of the composites was measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The degree of silicate dispersion in PP/starch-MB/silicate composites depended on the content of starch-MB. There was detectable change in d-spacing and peak intensity of the composite when the content of starch-MB was higher than 20 wt%. The rheological behavior of the composites was explained by both shear thinning effect and elastic property with the starch-MB amount. These effects were remarkable when the content of starch-MB was higher than 20 wt%. These were confirmed by an oscillatory viscometer at $200^{\circ}C$.