The Mechanical and Tribological Properties of MAH-Grafted HDPE-Filled Clay/PEI Composites

The mechanical and tribological properties of clay reinforced polythermide (PEI) composites been investigated. To attain improved mechanical and tribological properties of the composites maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted high density polyethylene (HDPE) was added. Tensile strengths of the composites of both raw and MAH treated composites showed an increasing trend with increasing filler content. However, the values for the MAH treated composites at all mixing ratios are found to be higher than that of neat clay/PEI. The surface morphologies of the fractured surfaces of the composites were recorded using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to gain information about the fiber-matrix interfacial adhesion in the composites.