| The aim of this work is the manufacturing of PE/clay nanocomposites and to study the structure-property relationships of these materials. The nanocomposites materials were prepared by mixing a commercially available premixed LLDPE/O-MMT masterbatch into a polyethylene blend matrix containing 80 wt % low density polyethylene and 20 wt % high density polyethylene with and without anhydride modified polyethylene (PE-MA) as the compatibilizer using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder.;Firstly, the effect of nanoclay and compatibilizer on the structure and dielectric response of PE/clay nanocomposites has been investigated. The microstructure of PE/clay nanocomposites was characterized by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Thermal properties were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The dielectric response of neat PE was compared with those of PE/clay nanocomposite with and without the compatibilizer in order to understand the effect of the quality of dispersion of nanoclay on dielectric response. In the nanocomposite materials two relaxation modes are detected in the dielectric losses. The first relaxation is due to a Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars interfacial polarization and the second relaxation is related to dipolar polarization. A relationship between the degree of dispersion and the relaxation rate f max of Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars was found and discussed.;Secondly, PE/clay nanocomposites have been characterized by various techniques such as optical microscopy, AFM, TEM, TGA, DMTA and dielectric breakdown measurements. A correlation between structure and dielectric breakdown strength was discussed.;Finally, a 3D simulation model by the finite element method is developed in order to study the effect of dispersion of nanoclay particles, varying the permittivity and radius of the inclusion on effective permittivity, electric field distribution and polarization. The simulation results were compared with theoretical solution obtained from classical models. |
