The effect of mineral surface nature on the mechanical properties of mineral-filled polypropylene composites

Needle trap device technique: From fabrication to sampling

Needle Trap Device (NTD) as a novel, versatile, and eco-friendly technique has played an important role in analytical and environmental chemistry. The distinctive role of this interdisciplinary technique can be defended through the sampling and analysis of biological samples and industrial pollutants in gaseous and liquid environments. In recent years, significant efforts have been made to enhance the performance of the needle trap device resulting in the development of novel extraction routes by various packing materials with improved selectivity and enhanced adsorption characteristics. These achievements can lead to the facilitated pre-concentration of desired analytes. This review tries to have a comparative and comprehensive survey of the three important areas of NTD technique: I) Fabrication and preparation procedures of NTDs; II) Sampling techniques of pollutants using NTDs; and III) Employed materials as adsorbents in NTDs. In the packing-material section, the commercial and synthetic adsorbents such as carbon materials, metal-organic frameworks, aerogel, and polymers are considered. Furthermore, the limitations and potential areas for future development of the NTD technique are presented.

Influence of Silica-Compatibilizer-Polypropylene Interactions on Mechanical Behaviour of Their Composite

The minerals application in polymer industry is one of the solutions towards the modification of polymer properties. In this study, the micronized silica was used as filler into the polypropylene (PP) matrix to enhance its mechanical properties. Two compatibilizers; namely: styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) triblock copolymer and its grafted maleic anhydride (SEBS-g-MA) were used and evaluated using statistical design of experiments. The results showed that the addition of silica to the PP matrix substantially improves the mechanical properties of the composite with a drop in strain measures. On the other hand, the addition of the compatibilizer enhances the interfacial bonding and smoothen the stresses transfer between filler particles and the polymeric matrix. Consequently, a remarkable improvement in impact strength and strain was noticed. The statistical analysis showed that the interaction between silica and compatibilizer plays a crucial role in determining the mechanical properties of the final composite.