Abstract: Calcium carbonate whisker (CCW) was surface modified by 3aminopropyltriethyloxy silane (KH550) and blended with poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and subsequently granulated via melt extrusion. When the loading of CCW was below 5 %, the tensile, bending, and impact strengths of the resultant PBS/CCW composites increased 1 %~3.9 %, 10 %~16 %, and 1 %~4.5 %, respectively, based on neat PBS. When the loading of CCW was larger than 5 % and 10 %, the tensile strength and impact strength began to reduce, respectively. However, the bending strength kept increasing with CCW loading. Surface modification of CCW by KH550 improved the interfacial adhesion of the PBS/CCW composites. CCW acted as a nucleating agent, the crystallization temperature and crystallinity of PBS increased 0.2 ℃ and 0.2 %, respectively.

Key words: poly(butylenes succinate), calcium carbonate whisker, silicane coupling agent, mechanical property, thermal stability