In this paper, polypropylene (PP)/organophilicmontmorillonite (OMMT) nanocomposites were successfully prepared without any compatibilizers by solid-state shear compounding (S3C) using panmill equipment. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that the OMMT characteristic (001) peak at 2θ equal to 4.59 degrees disappeared for the milled OMMT and corresponding composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) photographs show that the thickness of pan-milled OMMT decreased from ca 100-200nm to ca 30-50nm, and OMMT was partly exfoliated in the PPmatrix because the pan-type mill can exert fairly strong squeezing force in the normal direction and shearing force in both radial and tangential directions on milled materials. PP/OMMT nanocomposites at low OMMT loading have higher melting point, crystallization temperature, thermal degradation temperature and heat distortion temperature than those of neat PP. Moreover, addition of OMMT accelerates crystallization of PP significantly. S3C is a novel approach to prepare polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites with high performances at low filler loading.

In this work we present a new technique to prepare polyoletin-fiber composites. This technique is based on chemical anchoring of a catalyst on reinforcing agents corntaining OH groups on their surface and then conducting an olefin polymerization on the supported catalyst. This technique offers the possibility to approach the challenging problems encountered in poldymer conmposites, namely, the reinforcement matrix adhesion, the dispersion, and the wetting of the reinforcement by the resin. As a first part of a systematic research, we report on the procedure of fixation of titanium tetraehloride on the surface of asbestos fibers and the Ziegler Natta polymerization of ethylene on the surface-modified tibers. The procedure as well as the structure end properties of the composite were investigated hy means of FTIR, atomic absorption. SEM, solvent extraction, and tensile testing. The experimental results show that the Ziegler Natta catalyst can be efficiently anchored on. the surface of the fibers to conduct successful polymerization and to "synthesize" a new class of polymer composites.

Based on the traditional Chinese stonemill, pan mill type equipment designed for polymer stress reactions in the solid state has been developed. Experimental results show that this equipment is much more efficient than the traditional vibromili at pulverising brittle polymer materials and is also very efficient at pulverising ductile polymers. A theoretical analysis of the structure and milling process of the novel equipment is given, which demonstrates that during pan milling the pan mill type equipment could exert reasonably strong pressure and shear forces on the materials owing to its particular structure. The materials were shown to move in a spiral manner. A mathematical model was derived to describe the particle trajectory during milling, which was verified experimentally.

In this paper, the poly(acrylonitrile-acrylamide-acrylic acid) [P(AN-AM-AA)]/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) intermacromolecular complex formed through hydrogen bonding is described. The experimental results show that P(AN-AM-AA), which was prepared by hydrolysis of polyacrylonitrile followed by acidifying, complexes with PVA through hydrogen bonding, as verified by pH value testing and FTi.r. thermal analysis demonstrates that the complex formed is superior in thermal stability, compared with its component polymers. Favourable conditions for complexation of P(AN-AM-AA) with PVA are: AA content in P(AN-AM-AA): 41-46%; a ratio of P(AN-AM-AA) to PVA in the range 1:20-1:10; and a solution pH value of 5.0-5.5.

In this article the supermolecular structure and mechanical properties of poly(acrylonitrile-acrylamide-acrylic acid)/poly(vinyl alcohol) [P(AN-AM-AA)/ PVA] intermacromolecular complex formed through hydrogen bonding were studied by means of SEM, TEM, and mechanical property testing. The experimental results show that fibrous or network structure could be formed in P(AN-AM-AA)/PVA intermacromolecular complex, and this unique supramolecular structure endows the material with much superior mechanical properties to its constituents. The tensile strength of P(AN-AM-AA)/PVA complex is as high as 3 times that of PVA, and the Young's modulus of the complex is almost 6 times that of PVA. All the encouraging results demonstrate that intermacromolecular complexation among the polymers having complementary structures is an innovative strategy to reinforce polymer materials and, therefore, to prepare a new kind of microcomposites.