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The main purpose of this work is to study how the morphology of nanofillers and dispersion and distribution level of inorganic nanofiller influence the impact behavior and fracture probability of inorganic filler filled industrial high-density polyethylene nanocomposites. For this study, nanoclay and nano-CaCO3 fillers–high-density polyethylene mixings (0, 1, 3, 5 wt.% high-density polyethylene) was prepared by melt-mixing method using a compounder system. The impact behavior was examined by charpy impact test, scanning electron microscopy, and probability theory and statistics. The level of the dispersion was characterized with scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. The results showed rather good dispersion of both of inorganic nanofiller, with a mixture of exfoliated and confined morphology. The results indicated that the impact strength of the industrial nanocomposite decreased with the increase of inorganic particulate content. The impact reliability of the industrial nanocomposites depends on the type of nanofillers and their dispersion and distribution in the matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to examine the mechanical, thermal, and physical properties of industrially produced nano-CaCO3 filled high-density polyethylene nanocomposites. For this purpose, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0, and 15.0 wt.% loading of nano-CaCO3 filled high-density polyethylene nanocomposites were prepared by the melt mixing method using a compounder system, which consist of industrial banbury mixer, single screw extruder, and granule cutting. The effect of nano-CaCO3 on mechanical, thermal, and physical properties of nano-CaCO3/HDPE nanocomposites was investigated. As a result of all experiments, the tensile strength of nano-CaCO3 filled high-density polyethylene nanocomposite increased about 5% with addition of 1.0 wt.% nano-CaCO3. But did not increase further as more nano-CaCO3 was added. The flexural strength of nano-CaCO3 filled high-density polyethylene nanocomposite increased about 4.5% with addition of 15.0 wt.% nano-CaCO3.Then increased slightly as the nano-CaCO3 content increased to 15.0 wt.%. The tensile and flexural modulus of high-density polyethylene were significantly improved after (from 1.0 wt.% up to 15.0 wt.%) addition of nano-CaCO3. The tensile elongation at break and shore D hardness was consistently decreased with the addition of nano-CaCO3. The nano-CaCO3 filled high-density polyethylene nanocomposites were determined to have lower impact energy level than neat high-density polyethylene. The occurred fracture areas with the impact were detected by scanning electron microscopy examination. It is understood that fracture surface morphology changes when nano-CaCO3 ratio increases. The fracture surface changes were examined to determine the fracture mechanism of nano-CaCO3 filled high-density polyethylene nanocomposites. Density, melting flow index, differential scanning colorimetry, and vicat softening temperature were used to characterize the physical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites. The X-ray diffraction, the fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, the transmission electron microscopy, and the scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the structural characteristics of the nanocomposites. It is concluded that the addition of the nano-CaCO3 in high-density polyethylene has significantly influenced the mechanical, thermal, and physical properties of the nanocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]