Rheological evidence for the microstructure of intercalated polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites

Abstract

The rheological behavior of intercalated polystyrene/layered silicate nanocomposites was investigated. Both storage and loss moduli increased with silicate loading at all frequencies and showed non-terminal behavior at low frequencies which is a typical behavior of non-homogeneous systems with ordered microstructures. The rheological behavior in intercalated polystyrene/layered silicate nanocomposite depends not only on the intercalation of polymers, but also on the alignment of silicate layers. Furthermore, the real time intercalation dynamic of polystyrene into the layered silicate, monitored by rheological measurements, were also consistent with our simple quantitative analysis.