This study investigates the effects of nanoparticle content, aggregation/agglomeration, polymer/particle interphase, and crystallinity on the mechanical properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites. Different samples of HDPE nanocomposites, containing 0.5, 0.75, and 2 wt.% of pure and surface-modified silica nanoparticles, were prepared by the melt-mixing method. The pure silica nanoparticles (PSN) and surface-modified silica (AMS) with (3-Aminopropyl) tri-ethoxy silane were characterized with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra.Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to estimate the crystallinity and crystal size of the samples. Finally, tensile testing was performed on the nanocomposites to establish the relationship between mechanical properties and nanoparticle loading, and surface modification. The results indicate that the crystallinity and elastic modulus of the nanocomposites increased with increasing nanoparticle content. Moreover, the Gutzow-Dobreva theory was used to determine the induced crystallinity. A mechanical model (Equivalent Box Model) was proposed to determine the crystalline, amorphous modulus, thickness and tensile modulus of the polymer/particle interphase region, which shows a decreasing trend with the nanoparticles content and indicates that this region is thicker for the HDPE/AMS relative to HDPE/PSN.

This study investigates the effects of nanoparticle content, aggregation/agglomeration, polymer/particle interphase, and crystallinity on the mechanical properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites. Different samples of HDPE nanocomposites, containing 0.5, 0.75, and 2 wt.% of pure and surface-modified silica nanoparticles, were prepared by the melt-mixing method. The pure silica nanoparticles (PSN) and surface-modified silica (AMS) with (3-Aminopropyl) tri-ethoxy silane were characterized with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to estimate the crystallinity and crystal size of the samples. Finally, tensile testing was performed on the nanocomposites to establish the relationship between mechanical properties and nanoparticle loading, and surface modification. The results indicate that the crystallinity and elastic modulus of the nanocomposites increased with increasing nanoparticle content. Moreover, the Gutzow-Dobreva theory was used to determine the induced crystallinity. A mechanical model (Equivalent Box Model) was proposed to determine the crystalline, amorphous modulus, thickness and tensile modulus of the polymer/particle interphase region, which shows a decreasing trend with the nanoparticles content and indicates that this region is thicker for the HDPE/AMS relative to HDPE/PSN.

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