FlexTalc® 610 talc is a 1 micron ultrafine talc manufactured by Specialty Minerals Inc. (SMI) from high-brightness Chinese talc. Ultrafine talcs substantially improve the flexural modulus of polyolefins such as polypropylenes and thermoplastic olefins (TPOs).
The following thermoplastic polyolefin performance data was generated in a 20 melt index polypropylene homopolymer containing an ethylene octene elastomer at 30 percent by weight (parts per hundred resin basis). FlexTalc® 610 talc was compounded into the TPO resin at four different concentrations as indicated in the formulas below.
A 34 mm counter rotating twin screw extruder was used to compound the formulations. Test pieces were molded on an 84-ton Arburg injection molding machine at a melt temperature of 200oC. Flexural modulus was measured according to ASTM procedure: ASTM D-790.
The addition of the ethylene octene elastomer decreases the natural stiffness of the polypropylene. Addition of Flextalc® talcs can be used to regain and surpass the natural stiffness of the polypropylene in a TPO formulation. The stiffness of the composite increases linearly with increasing talc concentration.
Another performance example using a SMI ultrafine talc can be seen by clicking here.
Click here for more information on how high-aspect ratio minerals such as talc can improve the flexural modulus of plastic composites.
Learn more:
- SMI products for plastics
- SMI Products for reinforced polyolefins
- SMI minerals for automotive polyolefins
- SMI minerals for appliance polyolefins
- Performance of fine talcs in under-the-hood thermoplastic olefin (TPO)
- Performance of fine calcium carbonate in polypropylenes
- Talc in plastics
- What is Talc? A mineral introductory webpage
- Fundamentals of Flexural Modulus / Stiffness
- Fundamentals of Impact
- Fundamentals of Nucleation
- SMI Products Used in Automotive Parts. See the parts of your car that are made with Specialty Minerals products.
- Download technical data sheets for Specialty Minerals products
- Request a sample
