Alexei Volkov
Fillers are added to plastics to modify their properties and make them more suitable for specific applications. Most fillers are mineral or glass-based, such as calcium carbonate, silica, clay, and carbon, which are chosen for their ability to enhance characteristics like mouldability, stability, heat deflection, and electrical conductivity. Fillers can also improve tensile strength, toughness, and heat resistance, while reducing costs and enhancing colour. Flame retardants, for example, are added to plastics to delay ignition, minimize smoke, and reduce the spread of flames, improving safety and minimizing property damage.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Reason for adding fillers | To transform the plastic so it meets the intended use without sacrificing the qualities that made it attractive in the first place |
| Filler materials | Mineral or glass-based |
| Examples of mineral fillers | Calcium carbonate, silica, clay, kaolin, carbon, talc, barium sulfate, sodium sulfate |
| Examples of glass fillers | Glass beads, short glass fibers, long glass fibers |
| Functions of fillers | Cutting cost, improving certain properties of end products, improving tensile strength, improving heat resistance, enhancing thermal properties, improving electrical conductivity, improving moulding productivity, increasing density, improving chemical resistance, improving creep resistance, improving weldability, improving impact resistance, reducing thermal expansion, improving rigidity, improving toughness |
| Fillers as flame retardants | Aluminum hydroxide, phosphorus compounds, brominated compounds |
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What You'll Learn
Fillers improve the moulding and shaping of plastics
Fillers are added to plastics to improve moulding and shaping, as well as to enhance other properties. Fillers are inert substances that are added to the base polymer to modify its mechanical, electrical or thermal properties, improve surface appearance, or reduce costs.
Minerals such as calcium carbonate, silica, clay, kaolin, and carbon are added as fillers to polymers. These mineral fillers make the polymers easier to mould and shape, while also ensuring the stability of the compounds. Calcium carbonate, derived from limestone and marble, is the most common plastic filler worldwide. It increases tensile modulus and density, provides opacity and surface gloss, and improves impact strength. It also acts as an antiacid during the extrusion process, making the production process more efficient.
Talc, or hydrated magnesium silicate, is another mineral filler that is added to polypropylene to increase rigidity and improve thermal resistance. It is also used in polyethylene and polyamides, making plastic products more stable and durable. Barium sulfate is a filler used to increase the density of the polymer and improve chemical resistance. It also increases acid and alkali resistance and opacity, making it useful for X-ray shielding.
Metallic powders such as aluminium, copper, and zinc are added to plastic materials to make them conductive of electricity or heat. Aluminium improves shock resistance, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity, while copper and zinc improve thermal conductivity.
Glass fibres are also used as fillers to increase the mechanical properties of thermoplastics or thermosets, such as flexural modulus and tensile strength. Glass beads help with oil absorption and chemical resistance, while also improving creep resistance.
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Fillers reduce the cost of plastic production
Fillers are added to plastics to reduce the cost of production. Plastic fillers are particles added to plastic products to cut production costs and improve specific properties of the end products. Up to 70% of plastic products are composed of organic or inorganic fillers.
Calcium carbonate is the most common plastic filler worldwide. It is derived from limestone and marble and is the main component of living animals' shells, such as eggshells, seashells, and pearls. Calcium carbonate may reduce the overall strength of plastic, but it increases the tensile modulus and density. It also provides opacity and surface gloss, improves impact strength, and makes the production process more efficient. Compared to primary plastic, calcium carbonate is much more stable and reasonably priced.
Talc is another popular plastic filler. It is the softest mineral on the market and is added to polypropylene to increase rigidity. The use of talc has improved significantly in the last decade, and it is now used in polyethylene and polyamides. Talc is relatively inexpensive compared to primary plastic and is suitable for most traditional production processes.
Other common plastic fillers include barium sulfate, sodium sulfate, silica, clay, kaolin, and carbon. These fillers can make plastics easier to mold and shape while ensuring the stability of the compounds. For plastics that require heat resistance, mineral fillers can increase heat deflection and reduce thermal expansion.
In addition to reducing costs, fillers can also be used to modify the properties of plastics, such as improving tensile strength, toughness, heat resistance, and electrical conductivity. Fillers can also reduce the amount of energy required for viscous dissipation and increase the compound's viscosity.
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Fillers improve the electrical conductivity of plastics
Fillers are added to plastics to modify the properties of the base polymer, including its mechanical, electrical, or thermal properties, to improve the surface appearance, or to reduce the price of the transformed material. Fillers can also be used to improve the electrical conductivity of plastics.
Conductive fillers are added to polymers to enhance their electrical conductivity. These fillers create "pathways" or "continuity" for electrons to pass through the polymer more freely, thereby improving its overall electrical conductivity. The choice of conductive filler depends on factors such as the intended use of the conductive plastic composite, cost, and processability. For example, materials like silver nanoparticles offer high conductivity but are expensive, while cost-effective alternatives such as carbon-based fillers or hybrid systems balance performance and cost.
Carbon fibers are frequently added to polymers to increase tensile strength without adding weight, improve heat deflection, and improve electrical conductivity. Metallic fillers such as aluminum, nickel, copper, silver, and metallized glass are also used to impart metallic properties and increase electrical conductivity. For example, steel wool, silver particles, or copper fibers are added to plastics to increase electrical conductivity.
Mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, talc, and barium sulfate are commonly used to improve the properties of plastics. Talc, in particular, is added to polyethylene and polyamides to improve thermal resistance, stability, shape retention, and durability.
Overall, fillers play a crucial role in improving the electrical conductivity of plastics, making them suitable for a wide range of applications, including electronics, space, and aviation industries.
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Fillers improve the thermal properties of plastics
Fillers are added to plastics to improve their thermal properties, among other benefits. Fillers can improve the thermal conductivity of plastics, which is particularly important in the age of 5G technology, miniaturisation, and the fast development of power density. For instance, electric vehicles require the rapid development of electrical equipment, and heat dissipation is becoming one of the most critical technological challenges. Accumulated heat can cause severe damage and significantly reduce a device's lifetime.
Mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, silica, clay, kaolin, carbon, and talc are added to polymers to improve their thermal properties. Calcium carbonate is the most common plastic filler worldwide, and it helps reduce production costs while increasing tensile modulus and density. It also improves impact strength and is a processing aid, making the production process more efficient.
Talc is another widely used filler, which is added to plastics to increase rigidity and improve thermal resistance. It is also relatively inexpensive compared to primary plastics and is suitable for most traditional production processes.
Other fillers such as hydroxyapatite (HA) have been used to improve the mechanical properties and biocompatibility of polylactic acid (PLA). HA can also be used as a nucleating agent to increase the crystallinity of PLA.
Hybrid fillers, which combine two different particle sizes or types of fillers, offer higher thermal conductivity than single fillers. For example, aluminium-hydro-silicate and its mixtures offer new opportunities for the development of thermally conductive composites, as they are more economical to use in manufacturing processes.
Additionally, metallic fillers such as aluminium, copper, and zinc are added to plastics to improve their thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity. These fillers are commonly used in aerospace and electronics to make plastic materials conductive of electricity or heat.
Overall, fillers play a crucial role in improving the thermal properties of plastics, making them more suitable for various applications and improving their performance.
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Fillers improve the tensile strength of plastics
Plastic fillers are particles added to plastic products to improve specific properties of the end products and to cut production costs. Up to 70% of plastic products are composed of organic or inorganic fillers.
Filler content has a strong influence on the mechanical behaviour of plastics. The addition of fillers can improve tensile strength, toughness, heat resistance, colour quality, and plastic clarity. For example, calcium carbonate, the most common plastic filler, increases tensile modulus and density, while providing opacity and surface gloss. Other common fillers include talc, barium sulphate, sodium sulphate, and carbon fibres.
Mineral fillers can increase heat deflection and reduce thermal expansion. Carbon fibres are added to polymers to increase tensile strength without adding weight, and to improve heat deflection and electrical conductivity. Metallic powders such as aluminium, copper, and zinc are added to plastics used in aerospace and electronics to make them conductive of electricity or heat.
Other fillers include flame retardants, which delay ignition and burning, minimise smoke, and reduce the spread of flames. These include aluminium hydroxide, phosphorus compounds, and brominated compounds.
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Frequently asked questions
Fillers are added to plastics to change the properties of the specific plastic for extrusion. They can alter physical properties, reduce costs, trim weight, change the electrical conductivity, and enhance thermal properties.
Some commonly used fillers in plastics include calcium carbonate, talc, barium sulfate, sodium sulfate, silica, clay, kaolin, carbon, and aluminium.
Fillers can increase the elastic modulus, impact resistance, tensile strength, heat resistance, and density of plastics. They can also improve moulding productivity and enhance electrical conductivity.
