Abstract
There is a demand for long afterglow composites due to their potential applications in nighttime signal boards, sensors, and biomedical areas. In this study, Polypropylene (PP)/strontium aluminate-based composites [SrAl
O
:Eu
/Dy
(SAO
) and Sr
Al
O
: Eu
, Dy
(SAO
)] with maleic anhydride grafted PP compatibilizer (PRIEX) were prepared, and their auto-glowing properties were examined. After UV excitation at 320 nm, the PP/5PRIEX/SAO
composites showed green emission at 520 nm, and blue emission was observed for PP/5PRIEX/SAO
around 495 nm. The intensity of phosphorescence emission and phosphorescence decay was found to be proportional to the filler content (SAO
and SAO
). The FTIR analysis excluded the copolymerization reaction between the SAO
and SAO
fillers and the PP matrix during the high-temperature melt mixing process. The SAO
and SAO
fillers decreased the overall crystallinity of the composites without affecting the T
and T
(melting and crystallization temperature) values. The thermal stability of the composites was slightly improved with the SAO
and SAO
fillers, as seen from the TGA curve. Due to the plasticizing effect of the compatibilizer and the agglomeration of the SAO
and SAO
fillers, the tensile modulus, tensile strength, and storage modulus of the composites was found to be decreased with an increase in the SAO
and SAO
content. The decreasing effect was more pronounced, especially with the bulk-sized SAO
filler.