Rheology and phase structure of PP/EPDM/SiO2 ternary composites

In this article, the rheological properties of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM)/silicon dioxide (SiO₂) ternary composites were systematically investigated. Two kinds of nano-SiO₂ particles (with hydrophobic (denoted as A-SiO₂) or hydrophilic (denoted as B-SiO₂)) as well as two processing methods (one-step or two-step) were first employed to prepare PP/EPDM/SiO₂ ternary composites. Then the deep mixing and morphology evolution of polymer composite with mixing time were assessed by rheological method, on the focus of formation of filler-network, and compared with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. Linear viscoelastic behavior was observed for PP/EPDM and PP/SiO₂ binary system, showing no evidence of the formation of filler-network structure. However, a solid-like rheological behavior, which was attributed to the formation of the filler-network structure as confirmed by SEM observation, could be observed in some PP/EPDM/SiO₂ ternary systems, depending on the SiO₂ surface property, processing method and EPDM content. It seemed that SiO₂ with hydrophilic surface was necessary for the formation of filler-network in PP/EPDM/SiO₂ ternary system. Besides, two-step processing method made the solid-like behavior occurred at an earlier stage compared with that of a one-step processing method, also, the higher elastomer content facilitated the formation of the filler-network structure. The results were in good agreement with those reported in our previous publications [Yang H, Zhang Q, Guo M, Wang C, Du R, Fu Q. Polymer 2006;47:2106] [Yang H, Zhang X, Qu C, Li B, Zhang L, Zhang Q, et al. Polymer 2007;48:860].