Effect of whiskers nucleation ability and shearing function on the interfacial crystal morphology of polyethylene (PE)/raw whiskers composites

摘要

In this work, in order to investigate the combined effect of whiskers nucleation ability and shearing function on the interfacial crystal morphology of HDPE/raw whiskers composites, two different types of raw whiskers (SMCW and BW) with different diameter distribution and HDPE composites were firstly prepared by melt blending and then subjected to both traditional and dynamic injection molding. The results indicated that the nucleation ability of SMCW on HDPE crystallization is much better than BW. Furthermore, the small diameter whisker shows the better nucleation ability than the large diameter whisker. For samples prepared by traditional injection molding, the better the nucleation ability of the whisker, the more dense the HDPE crystal lamellae can epitaxially grow on its surface. However, after introducing shearing function, even for large diameter BW whisker with weak nucleation ability, a large number of HDPE crystal lamellae could be epitaxially grown on the surface of the whisker. As a consequence, the interfacial adhesion and mechanical properties of the composites are significantly improved by introducing shear function.