Effect of Hollow Glass Microspheres with Different Contents and Types on Properties of Polypropylene Composites

Abstract In this paper, hollow glass microspheres (HGM) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared. The effects of the type and content of HGM on the mechanical properties of the composite materials were investigated. It is found that the introduction of HGM leads to a decrease in the density of the composites, where the smallest density is 0.85 g cm −3 . The tensile, bending, and impact strengths of the HGM/PP composites are slightly lower than those of pure PP resin. For a given type of HGM, as the filler content increases, the tensile properties of the HGM/PP composite decrease. A similar trend is observed in the impact strength, however, it is not observed in the bending performance. The mechanical properties of the HGM/PP composites are not only affected by the density of HGM fillers, but also by its content. The maximum bending modulus of the composites could be 24 % higher than that of the pure PP resins. In addition, the PP sample with HGM modified with γ‐aminopropyl triethoxysilane (KH550) showed promising interfacial bonding strength.