Mechanical and Thermal Degradation Kinetic Study of Basalt Filled Polyvinyl Chloride Composite Material

Polymeric composites filled with natural fillers are an emerging area in polymer science, and have recently attracted the attention of researchers. Because of their relatively good service properties, the major contributions of these natural fillers are lowering the cost of composite materials and producing faster molding cycles. In this study, the influence of micro particulate ground basalt rock addition on physical, mechanical, and thermal kinetic properties of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) reinforced basalt rock powder (BRP) composite material was investigated. Results showed that basalt rock powder (BRP) affect the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the (PVC/BRP) composites. Increasing the BRP loading will produce a relative drop in water absorbability, also decrease the tensile strength and elongation at break, while causing an increase in hardness shore A and compression strength values. Moreover, thermal stability, activation energy, and entropy were increased with increasing BRP as proven by Thermogravemetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis ( DTA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) .