Effect of ZnO type and concentration on the mophology, thermal, and mechanical properties of poly(ether ester)/ZnO composites

Abstract

Poly(ether ester) (PEE) copolymers were synthesized in a two-stage process involving transesterification and polycondensation. The synthesized copolymer and the zinc oxide (ZnO) were used in composite preparation by melt compounding. The influence of ZnO type and concentration on the morphology, thermal and mechanical properties of the composites were studied. DSC and XRD analyses indicated that crystallinity of composites was slightly reduced with ZnO content. Homogeneous dispersion of fillers in the polymer matrix was observed through morphological analyses. While in general tensile strength and elongation at break values of the composites decreased with increasing ZnO content, elastic modulus values increased with the addition of ZnO. Moreover, ZnO particles were modified with poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) and a slight improvement in mechanical properties was observed, respectively over the composites containing unmodified particles