Morphology and rheology of nanofilled PP / PVA blends

Abstract

The influence of Ag/SiO2 as nanofiller and sodium oleate as compatibilizer and their mixtures on the patterns flow and structure formation processes in thermodynamically incompatible polypropylene/plasticized polyvinylalcohol (PP / PVA) systems were studied. It is found that the change in the sequence of mixing the ingredients of the composition allows adjusting the morphology phase type due to the predominant localization of nanoparticle additives in the melt amount of a component or on the border of phase separation. Injection of Ag/SiO2 to me lt PP incre ase s dispe rsion degre e and homogene ity of its distribution in the matrix. Simultaneous use of nanoadditive and sodium oleate as compatibilizer improves the connections between the polymers and promotes thinner and more homogeneous dispersion of the particles of the dispersed phase. It is shown that the effective viscosity of melt nanofilled system is determined by components mixing method: viscosity of melt blend increases when the additive is localized predominantly in the PVA and decreases with the prior injection of PP. The nature of the flow for all researched compositions obeys a power law and almost does not depend on the method of mixing. The ability of the longitudinal deformation of ternary blends is deteriorating, but remains sufficient for their processing. Combining nanoadditive with compatibilizer promotes increased elasticity and the melt spinnability of modified blends.