Rheology of Polyethylene/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites Prepared by In Situ Polymerization

The linear shear rheological behaviors of polyethylene/montmorillonite (PE/MMT) nanocomposites were investigated by a rheometer. The storage moduli (G′) and loss moduli (G″) of PE/MMT nanocomposites increase obviously with the silicate loading only 0.1 wt%, this is ascribed to a strong interficial adhension. The presence of MMT leads to pseudo-solid-like behaviors and the molecular chain of PE/MMT melts confined. For all samples, the dependence of G′ and G″ on ω shows nonterminal behaviors. The terminal slope decreases as the silicate loading increased from 0.1 % to 0.8 wt%. However, the terminal slope of PE/MMT nanocomposites increases as the silicate loading increased from 0.8 % to 1.2 wt% . This may be attributed to the aggregation of a small amount of MMT.