Impact of hybrid nanofillers on the structure and property of polypropylene/polystyrene composites based on elongation flow

Abstract

The composites comprised of polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and hybrid nanofillers were prepared by a novel eccentric rotor extruder based on elongation flow. The morphology, thermal behavior and rheological properties were investigated. The morphology of the PS dispersed phase changed from circular shape of PP70/PS30 blend to microfiber shape of PP/PS/MWCNTs/MMT composite with an increase of the number of the hybrid nanofillers dimensions. The nano‐TiO2 and MWCNTs were mainly located at the interface, did not change the shape of the PS dispersed phase but reduce the size of the dispersed phase. The hybrid nanofillers containing MWCNTs had better modification effect on the improvement of the crystalline ability of PP compared with the hybrid nanofillers without MWCNTs. The introduction of the hybrid nanofillers did not affect the crystal type of PP, but influence the perfection of crystallization of PP. The hybrid nanofillers had a nice enhancement on the thermal stability of the PP/PS blend. Compared with PP, the low frequency G′ of the hybrid nanofillers filled PP70/PS30 composites increased by two orders of magnitude. With an increase of the dimensionality of the hybrid nanofillers, the restriction of the molecular chains relaxation caused by the hybrid nanofillers was enhanced.