Surface tension of silane treated natural zeolite

To investigate the surface tension of the natural zeolite to be used in polymer composites, wicking method was employed on the base of Washburn’s equation and that of the zeolite treated with 0.5 wt.% γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (γ-APS) was also studied and compared. The apolar component γSVLW of the untreated natural zeolite was 19.22 mJ/m2 and the polar one, γSVAB was 15.27 mJ/m2. The polar component γSVLW of the treated zeolite with 0.5 wt.% γ-APS was 27.08 mJ/m2 and the polar one γSVAB was 12.23 mJ/m2. The value of γSVLW component increased, while that of γSVAB component decreased with γ-APS treatment and it was due to the increasing effect of alkyl group (hydrophobic) in γ-APS coupled on the zeolite surface.