Premium
Dimensional impact of nanofillers on the micromorphology and rheology of PP/PS composites under continuous elongation flow
Author(s) -
Zhang Xiaoqiu,
Tan Yongbin,
Chen Rongyuan,
Zhang Guizhen,
Qu Jinping
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.4415
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , scanning electron microscope , polystyrene , elongation , carbon nanotube , polypropylene , nanocomposite , rheology , montmorillonite , dynamic mechanical analysis , carbon black , nanoparticle , polymer , nanotechnology , natural rubber , ultimate tensile strength
Three kinds of nanoscaled fillers, namely, zero‐dimensional nanosphere titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), one‐dimensional multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and two‐dimensional nanoplate montmorillonite (MMT), were added to the representative polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends by eccentric rotor extruder based on elongation flow. Confirmed from images of transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, three kinds of nanofillers were uniformly dispersed in the blends under continuous elongation flow and the presence of nanofillers led to a marked decrease of dispersed phase size of PS. The dispersed PS particles were turned into spherical status in matrix with the addition of TiO 2 and MWCNTs and showed irregular shapes in the composites with MMT. The PS particle size of PP/PS/MMT was decreased most obviously, dropping from 4.44 to 1.42 μm, which resulted in obvious improvements in storage modulus and complex viscosity of the composites. The results of wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction and dynamic mechanical analysis indicated that MMT nanoparticles were highly intercalated in PP/PS blends, which obviously improved compatibility of PP and PS. Our work certified that the two‐dimensional nanoplate MMT are better compatibilizers compared with the zero‐dimensional nanosphere TiO 2 and one‐dimensional MWCNTs for PP/PS composites.