Morphology and rheology of immiscible polymer blends filled with silica nanoparticles

The effect of silica nanoparticles on the morphology and the rheological properties of an immiscible polymer blend (polypropylene/polystyrene, PP/PS 70/30) was investigated. Two types of pyrogenic nanosilica were used: a hydrophilic silica with a specific surface area of 200 m2/g and a hydrophobic silica having a specific surface area of 150 m2/g. First, a significant reduction in the PS droplet volume radius, from 3.25 to nearly 1 μm for filled blends with 3 wt% silica, was observed. More interestingly, image analysis of the micrographs proved that the hydrophilic silica tends to confine in the PS phase whereas hydrophobic one was located in the PP phase and at the PP/PS interface (interphase thickness ≈ 100–200 nm). Furthermore, a migration of hydrophilic silica from PP phase toward PS domains was observed. lysis of the rheological experimental data was based on the framework of the Palierne model, extended to filled immiscible blends. Due to the partition of silica particles in the two phases and its influence on the viscosity ratio, limited cases have been investigated. The rheological data obtained with the hydrophobic silica were more difficult to model since the existence of a thick interphase cannot be taken into account by the model. Finally, the hypothesis that hydrophilic silica is homogeneously dispersed in PS droplets and that hydrophobic silica is dispersed in PP matrix was much closer to the actual situation. It can be then concluded that stabilization mechanism of PP/PS blend by hydrophilic silica is the reduction in the interfacial tension whereas hydrophobic silica acts as a rigid layer preventing the coalescence of PS droplets.