Abstract
The effect of adding a small amount of cellulose nanofiber （CNF） on the ductility of talc （TC）/polypropylene（PP） resin composites was investigated. Composites were prepared by melt kneading using powdered CNF with a diameter of about 20 nm and a length of 10 μ m or above, three TCs with different plate lengths and thicknesses, and maleic anhydride modified PP resin, and tensile tests were performed. As a result, the failure strain of the composite with 10 wt％ TC and 0.5 wt％ CNF, which has the smallest volume and the highest aspect ratio, increased compared to the composite with 10 wt ％ TC, indicating the ductility-enhancing effect of CNF. Moreover, observations of spherulite and fracture surfaces of the composites, and evaluation of the diameter of spherulite using a representative volume element model were performed. The results showed that the diameter of spherulite in the composite decreases as the volume of TC decreases and becomes even smaller when TC and CNF are added. Therefore, it is evident that the refinement of the spherulite has a strong effect of enhancing ductility.
