Polymer nanocomposites containing well-exfoliated nanoplatelets have been shown to possess greatly enhanced physical and mechanical properties. However, it is still a significant challenge to achieve well-exfoliated 2D nanoplatelet in polyolefin matrices due to the poor compatibility and associated entropic penalty between 2D inorganic filler and nonpolar polyolefin matrices. Grafting polyolefin chains onto an already exfoliated nanoplatelet surface is a simple, yet effective approach to prepare polyolefin nanocomposites with strong polyolefin/nanoplatelet interface because the grafted polyolefin chains on the nanoplatelets can form effective entanglement and co-crystallize with the polyolefin matrix. In this research, polyethylene (PE) grafted α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) PE-g-ZrP was prepared and blended with PE matrix. The graft density of PE-g-ZrP was controlled to maintain ZrP exfoliation upon subsequent blending with PE matrix. It is found that confined PE crystallization is formed in PE-g-ZrP and results in the PE crystal orientation perpendicular to the ZrP nanoplatelets. Both the PE-g-ZrP and the PE/PE-g-ZrP nanocomposites show greatly enhanced melt strength, mechanical properties and dimensional stability compared to the neat PE. The usefulness of the present study for preparation of high performance polyolefin nanocomposites is discussed.

Preparation of polyethylene nanocomposites based on polyethylene grafted exfoliated α-Zirconium phosphate

ACS Spring 2022

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