Linear viscoelasticity of polymer melts filled with nano-sized fillers

✍ Scribed by Yihu Song; Qiang Zheng

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 656 KB
• Volume: 51
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0032-3861
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2010.05.018

✦ Synopsis

The linear dynamic rheology of polymer melts filled with nano-sized fillers is investigated in relation to a proposed two phase model. A common principle is disclosed for nanofilled polymers exhibiting either fluidor solid-like behaviors with increasing filler volume fraction. The bulky polymer phase far away from the filler inclusions in the nanocomposites behaves the same as in the unfilled case while its contribution to the composite modulus is enlarged due to strain amplification effect. The filler forms aggregates together with polymer chains absorbed on the filler surface, which is termed as the "filler phase" in the proposed model. The dynamics of the "filler phase" slow down with increasing filler concentration. The applicability of the proposed two phase model is discussed in relation to the wellknown structural inhomogeneity of nanofilled polymers as well as the strain amplification and the filler clustering effects.