Fabrication of thermoplastic composites using fly-ash a coal and hollow glass beads to study their mechanical, thermal, rheological, morphological and flame retradency properties

Thermoplastic polycarbonate (PC) and nylon 6 (NY) composites with cenosphere and hollow glass beads were prepared and their mechanical, rheological, thermal and flame retardency properties were studied. The flexural behavior of the composites increased after loading with cenosphere and hollow glass beads. The tensile strength of the PC composites was enhanced up to 80 N mm–2 as compared to pure PC while no remarkable change was observed in case of nylon 6 composites. Study of thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) showed that the thermal stability of all the composites (Polycarbonate/cenosphere, Polycarbonate/hollow glass beads, Nylon 6/cenosphere and Nylon 6/hollow glass beads) increased. It was concluded that both the fillers enhanced the non-flammability of the polymers. Limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of all the composites showed an increase with increase in the concentration of filler. The optimal results of LOI and UL 94 were observed in composites with 8% cenosphere and 12 % cenosphere in case of Nylon 6. Cenosphere led to superior mechanical properties of polycarbonate and nylon 6 in comparison to hollow glass beads which suggested the composites can find use in automotive, industrial, pump component and for manufacturing of light weight parts in aeronautic industry at lower economic value.