This study proposes melt-blending polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) that have a similar melt flow index (MFI) to form PP/HDPE polyblends. The influence of the content of HDPE on the properties and compatibility of polyblends is examined by using a tensile test, flexural test, Izod impact test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SEM results show that PP and HDPE are incompatible polymers with PP being a continuous phase and HDPE being a dispersed phase. The FTIR results show that the combination of HDPE does not influence the chemical structure of PP, indicating that the polyblends are made of a physical blending. The DSC and XRD results show that PP and HDPE are not compatible, and the combination of HDPE is not correlated with the crystalline structure and stability of PP. The PLM results show that the combination of HDPE causes stacking and incompatibility between HDPE and PP spherulites, and PP thus has incomplete spherulite morphology and a smaller spherulite size. However, according to mechanical property test results, the combination of HDPE improves the impact strength of PP.

This study aims to examine the properties of composites that different carbon materials with different measurements can reinforce. Using a melt compounding method, this study combines polypropylene (PP) and graphene nano-sheets (GNs) or carbon fiber (CF) to make PP/GNs and PP/CF conductive composites, respectively. The DSC results and optical microscopic observation show that both GNs and CF enable PP to crystalize at a high temperature. The tensile modulus of PP/GNs and PP/CF conductive composites remarkably increases as a result of the increasing content of conductive fillers. The tensile strength of the PP/GNs conductive composites is inversely proportional to the loading level of GNs. Containing 20 wt% of GNs, the PP/GNs conductive composites have an optimal conductivity of 0.36 S/m and an optimal EMI SE of 13 dB. PP/CF conductive composites have an optimal conductivity of 10⁻⁶ S/m when composed of no less than 3 wt% of CF, and an optimal EMI SE of 25 dB when composed of 20 wt% of CF.