Creep and recovery behavior of novel organic-inorganic polymer hybrids

A novel class of organic-inorganic polymer hybrids were developed by melt blending up to 50 (v/v) % [about 83 (w/w) %] tin-based polyphosphate glass (Pglass) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in conventional plastics processing equipment. The creep and recovery behavior of these polymer hybrids at 30degreesC were studied to understand the effect of the Pglass on the creep resistance of the LDPE. The results suggest that the Pglass acts as a reinforcement and an increase in the Pglass loading leads to significantly lower creep strains. This creep resistance is further enhanced by pretreating the Pglass with coupling agents prior to incorporating them into the Pglass-IDPE hybrids. The experimental creep compliance of these materials conformed excellently with empirical power-law equation and a modified Burgers' model, suggesting that the materials are linearly viscoelastic under the test conditions.