Effect of calcium carbonate whisker content on the morphology, crystallization, and mechanical properties of poly(para‐dioxanone)/Calcium carbonate whisker composites

In this work, poly(para‐dioxanone) (PPDO) was mixed with 0, 1, 5, 10, 20, and 30 weight percent (wt%) calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) whiskers by solution coprecipitation. Samples were compression molded into bars using a platen vulcanizing press. It has assessed the influence of the CaCO₃ whisker content on the morphology, thermal, mechanical, and crystalline properties of the PPDO/CaCO₃ whisker composites, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X‐ray diffraction. DSC showed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) and crystallization temperature (T_c) of the composites increased with increasing CaCO₃ whisker content. At low CaCO₃ whisker content (1 wt%), the degree of crystallinity (Dc) of PPDO increased sharply. The addition of higher content of CaCO₃ whisker would cause more agglomeration in PPDO matrix, so that the mechanical properties of PPDO/CaCO₃ whisker composites would gradually decrease. The mechanical properties of PPDO were changed by the presence of CaCO₃ whiskers; the optimal amount of CaCO₃ whisker was 1 wt%, which sharply improved the tensile strength of PPDO by 54%. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3442–3448, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers