The investigation of mechanical, physical, tribological and antibacterical properties of chitosan filled polypropylene composites

In this study, the mechanical, physical, tribological and antibacterial properties of polypropylene (PP) composites with addition of chitosan filled PP polymer were investigated. In the study used materials are as follows; 10wt.%chitosan filled PP, 20wt.%chitosan filled PP, 30wt.% chitosan filled PP, 10wt.% chitosan modified with acetic acid filled PP, 20wt.% chitosan modified with acetic acid filled PP and 30wt.% chitosan modified with acetic acid filled PP composites. Composite material production was carried out in a single screw extruder. Test samples of pure PP and chitosan filled PP composite materials were produced by injection molding technique. Mechanical, physical, tribological, flame retardancy and antibacterial properties of molded samples were investigated. Mechanical tests such as tensile, bending, impact, physical tests such as density and hardness, pin-disc wear test, glow wire test and antibacterial tests have been performed. Tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, fracture strength, flexural strength, flexural modulus, density, Shore D hardness tests, friction coefficient, specific wear rate and antibacterial properties of test samples against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were investigated. In addition, the microstructural properties of the fracture and wear surfaces of the test samples were examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).