In this work, varying compositions of SiO2 micro filler were added
with the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and samples have been prepared
using film casting technique. The results have been analyzed and
compared for PVC samples with (1 wt%, 3 wt%, 5 wt% and 10 wt%)
SiO2 micro filler. Mechanical characteristics such as tensile strength,
elongation at break and Young`s modulus were measured for all the
samples, where the tensile strength was increased from 8.39 Mpa for
purified PVC to 16 Mpa for 3% SiO2/PVC composite. Also, thermal
conductivity measurement values illustrated that composite materials
have a good thermal insulation at 10 wt. %, thermal conductivity was
decreased from 0.1684 W/m. K for PVC to 0.1310W/m. K at 10%
SiO2/PVC composite. Absorptivity test was also carried out for these
samples, the results of this study proved that PVC and SiO2-PVC
composites have low diffusion coefficients ranging from (10-13- 10-10
m2/s). Similarly, the dielectric properties like dielectric constant, loss
factor, resistance, and volume resistivity were performed; the
dielectric constant was increased from 2.1039 for PVC to 3.658 for
3% SiO2/PVC composites, while the dielectric loss factor was
decreased from 0.0144 for PVC to 0.0137 for 5%SiO2/PVC
composite. The values of resistance were increased from
17259.99(Ω) for purified PVC to 29185.75(Ω) for 10% SiO2/PVC
composites. Volume resistivity was increased from 0.3794 x109 (Ω.
cm) for PVC to 0.5179x109 (Ω. cm) for 10% SiO2/PVC composites.
FTIR spectroscopy was employed for all PVC-composite samples
and its results were investigated, there are systematic increases in
absorbance intensity spectra with SiO2 ratios attributed to good
distribution of inorganic fillers (Symmetric increases). The
microstructure and morphology of the prepared samples were
investigated by using optical microscope. It can be observed that, the
samples with (3% SiO2/PVC) are glossy and smooth without
agglomeration of (SiO2) particles in (PVC) matrix. The results
demonstrate that PVC-composite films prepared in this study show
promising potential to achieve good materials for plastic packaging
applications.
