Formation and detection of clay network structure in poly (propylene)/layered silicate nanocomposites

The study of the structure and the rheological properties of poly(propylene) (PP)/montmorillonite (MMT)/maleinated PP (MAPP) composites strongly suggests that a silicate network may form under certain conditions. Network formation could not be proven unambiguously with the usual techniques, i.e., with TEM and by plotting the frequency dependence of viscoelastic properties. Cole-Cole plots detect the network very sensitively. A certain number of silicate layers are needed to create a house-of-cards Structure. A threshold concentration of MAPP exists in the investigated system, which depends on the silicate content.