Dwi Puryanti

Effect of nickel-cobalt-zinc ferrite filler on electrical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic natural rubber composites

ABSTRACT Thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) as polymer matrix was prepared by the melt blending method. Nickel-cobalt-zinc (NiCoZn) ferrite as a filler was prepared by the double-stage sintering method in air. The filler was incorporated in the polymer matrix using a Brabender internal mixer. The filler content was varied from 0 to 30 wt.%. The morphological study of the fractured surface using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) shows the effects of strain. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates the coexistence of both the ferrite and thermoplastic. Electrical properties were studied using a high frequency response analyzer (HFRA) at room temperature (298°K). The results show that resistivity (ρ) decreases, but the dielectric constant increases, with increasing filler content. The resistivity and dielectric constant for all the composites are in the range of 8.9 × 106–9.7 × 105 Ωm and 33–72, respectively. A sharp change in both quantities around 15 wt.% filler content is interpreted as due to the transition from a dispersed system to an attached system. The tensile study shows that the elongation at break point and the tensile strength of the composite at room temperature decrease with increasing filler content. The hardness of the samples decreases with increasing filler content.

Effect of nickel-cobalt-zinc ferrite filler on magnetic and thermal properties of thermoplastic natural rubber composites

A sample of Ni0.25Co0.25Zn0.5Fe2O4 ferrite was prepared by a double-staged sintering method in air. Thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) was prepared by melt blending of natural rubber (NR), liquid natural rubber (LNR), and high density polyethylene (HDPE) in an internal mixer Brabender Plasticorder PL 2000. Magnetic polymer composites were prepared from the ferrite and TPNR matrix using the same melt blending method at 135°C with mixing rate of 50 r.p.m. for 12 min. The fillers were varied from 5 to 30 weight percent. A uniform dispersion of the filler in the matrix was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The density of the composites was determined using densitometer MD 200S. Magnetic properties were studied using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature (25°C). The results show that magnetization (M), saturation magnetization (MS), remanent magnetization (MR), initial susceptibility (χi) and initial permeability (μi) increase with increasing filler content at all compositions. The composites can be classified as soft magnetic materials as their coercivities are in the range of 30–36 Oe. The differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results indicate that the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the melting point (Tm) of all the composites are independent of the filler content. The thermal conductivity of the composites was found to be in the range of 0.26 to 0.52 W m−1 K−1.