Response surface methodology to optimize the thermal stability, young modulus and flexural strength of PP/SEBS/clay nanocomposite produced by FFF method

The fused filament fabrication (FFF) method was used in this study to fabricate PP/SEBS/Clay nanocomposite and the response surface methodology was used to optimize the thermal stability and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite. The effect of the parameters of nozzle temperature, print speed and nano-clay content was also investigated on the thermal stability, Young modulus and flexural strength of the PP/SEBS/Clay nanocomposite. Moreover, SEM images were used to analyze the microstructure of the printed samples. It was observed that an increase in the amount of nano-clay improved the crystallization temperature of the nanocomposite by 9%, while increasing the nozzle temperature and print speed improved the crystallization temperature by 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively. Moreover, the increase of clay content up to 3 wt% improved Young modulus by 31% and decreased the flexural strength by 8%. Optimization results indicated that crystallization temperature, Young modulus and flexural strength of the PP/SEBS/Clay nanocomposite can be enhanced simultaneously by print speed of 40 mm/s, nozzle temperature of 250°C and nano-clay content of 4.5 wt%.