Author/Authors :
Cheng, Wenxi Henan University of Technology - College of Materials Science and Engineering, China , Miao, Wei Henan University of Technology - College of Materials Science and Engineering, China , Zhang, Linqi Henan University of Technology - College of Materials Science and Engineering, China , Peng, Jin Henan University of Technology - College of Materials Science and Engineering, China
Abstract :
A series of PE/SiO2 nanocomposites, namely PE2D, PE5D, PE7D and PE10D, were prepared via reactive extrusion from the mixtures of vinyl functionalized nano-SiO2 (v-SiO2), Dicumyl peroxide and PE. For comparison, PE/SiO2 nanocomposite (PE7) was also prepared by the same method from a mixture of v-SiO2 and PE. SEM and TEM micrographs showed that the above products were composed of nanocomposite. Xylene extraction results showed that, except PE7, nanocomposites contained gel. FTIR Spectra showed the existence of SiO2 in the gels, meaning that SiO2 nanoparticles were covalently bonded to PE chains, i.e., PE2D, PE5D, PE7D and PE10D were nanocomposites formed by covalent bonds between SiO2 and PE. Studies based on DSC show that all the nanocomposites have Tm of close values and PE7 has higher crystallinity than other nanocomposites. Mechanical properties were investigated through tensile tests and the results show that covalently bonded E/SiO2 nanocomposites have better performance compared to PE7. In this respect, the tensile strength, modulus, and elongation-at-break of PE7D are given as 41.5 MPa, 349 MPa and 1060% which are as high as 170%, 126% and 125% of the values for pure PE. While the tensile strength, modulus, and elongation-at-break of PE7 are only 109%, 108% and 109% of the values for pure PE, indicating the significant effect of covalent bond between polymer matrix and nanoparticles
