Abstract: For the recycling and reutilization of waste polypropylene (PP), the waste PP was compounded with mica powders and high-density polyethylene (PE-HD) through a melt blending method. Effects of mica powders and PE-HD on various properties of the resulting composites were investigated extensively. The results indicated that mechanical properties of the waste PP exhibited an increase at first and then tended to decrease with increasing content mica powders, but the melt flow rate decreased continuously. There were lots of fiber bundles observed on the fracture surface of the composites. However, both mechanical properties and melt flow rate presented an increasing trend with increasing content of PE-HD. Morphology of the fracture surface also reveals more fiber bundles, indicating a typical ductile fracture.

Key words: waste polypropylene, mica powder, high-density polyethylene, modification, reinforcement