Unveiling the restricted mobility of carbon nanotubes inside a long chain branched polymer matrix via probing the shear flow effects on the rheological and electrical properties of the filled systems

The present work has aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of shear flow on the behaviors of nano filler evolution inside linear and long chain branched polymer matrices. Accordingly, measurements consisting of transient start-up shear rheology coupled with small amplitude oscillatory sweep (SAOS) and dielectric tests were designed. Linear polypropylene (PPC) and polypropylene (PPH) with long chain branching (LCB) were chosen as the polymer matrices and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the nanofillers. The percolation threshold of the LCB PPH nanocomposites was found to be higher than for linear PPC, due to the high viscosity and elasticity of LCB PPH. A transient shear with different shear rates was imposed on the composites after which SAOS and electrical conductivity measurements were conducted. The liquid-solid transitions of the nanocomposites were found to be different and to depend on the shear flow conditions (shear rate). For the linear PPC, higher shear rates caused the filler network to break down while lower shear rates helped the nanofillers to agglomerate. Interestingly, for LCB PPH, both higher and lower pre-shear rates resulted in the breakup of the filler networks, which was due to the restricted mobility of the CNTs by the LCB. The confinement of the polymer chains to the CNTs and their aggregates made it difficult for the fillers to move thus causing the formed network to be easily destroyed even under slow and slight shears. Similarly, the trend was also found after shear flows as reflected by the increase and decrease of electrical conductivities.