Thermal properties of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites reinforced with silica nanoparticles (SiO2) modified cellulose

The aim of this study was to evaluate thermal properties of composites made with terpolymer acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) reinforced with silica nanoparticles (SiO2) modified cellulose. Primarily, the fibers were modified using the sol-gel process and the tetraethyl ortosilicate (TEOS) as precursor. In addition, two concentrations of TEOS and two reaction times were used to produce two types of modified fibers, F-T1 and F-T2 fibers, then was detennined the yield of modification process. The fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and its derivative (DTG). The acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene composites reinforced with 10 and 20% (w/w) unmodified cellulose pulp fibers (F-NT) and silica nanoparticles modified (F-T1 and F-T2) were obtained by extrusion process and subsequent injection. The composites were characterized in terms of density, thennogravimetric (TGA / DTG), thermal deflection temperature (BDT) and VICAT softening temperature. In general, the addition of fibers provided an increase for HDT and VICAT, being more pronounced when the fiber content increased from 10% to 20%. However, in comparison with ABS the increasing of fiber content from 10% to 20%, caused a decrease in T-onset and caused an increase in density.