Novel pla composites modified with steel fibres and (3-thiopropyl) polysilsesquioxane derivatives

In recent years, a significant increase in the development of new composite materials with desirable mechanical, thermal or surface properties has been observed. One of the popular polymers on the market is polylactide. This article explores how to modify the polymer using steel fibres and organosilicon compounds (SSQ-SH, SSQ-SH-OCT, and SSQ-SH-OFP) to enhance its properties. Test samples were obtained by injection molding with varying concentrations of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2.5%, and 5% of steel fibres. Mechanical tests, including tensile strength, elongation at break, and impact strength, were conducted, along with an analysis of the contact angle. The modified samples showed higher impact strength values, with the PLA /steel fibres /SSQ-SH sample seeing an increase of 12%. The addition of modifiers with fluoroalkyl groups led to a contact angle increase of 8.5% compared to neat PLA. Thermal tests (TGA) were also carried out to determine the influence of fibres and organosilicon compounds on decomposition.