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Study on the microstructure evolution of TiO 2 ‐reinforced HDPE nanocomposites by synchrotron small angle X‐ray scattering
Author(s) -
Li Xiaoyun,
Liu Guoming,
Tang Zhongfeng,
Zhang Xiuqin,
Zhou Ping,
Wang Jie,
Li Xiuhong,
Li Liangbin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.23971
Subject(s) - materials science , high density polyethylene , crystallinity , nanocomposite , microstructure , differential scanning calorimetry , composite material , small angle x ray scattering , polyethylene , scattering , optics , thermodynamics , physics
This work studies the effect of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles on mechanical properties, thermal behavior and microstructures of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed that melting temperature and crystallinity of the nanocomposites are affected by incorporating TiO 2 ; the crystallinity reaches maximum at low TiO 2 loading following with a significant reduction when the content of TiO 2 higher than 2 wt%. To deeply understand structure–property relationship, SAXS experiments were carried out. The results indicated that the nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed in the HDPE matrix. The TiO 2 nanoparticles exhibit surface‐fractal characteristic at small scale. At large scale, with TiO 2 content increasing, TiO 2 clusters grow gradually until 2 wt%. The optimum microstructures and mechanical properties of HDPE/TiO 2 nanocomposites were achieved at about 2 wt% loading. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:580–587, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers