Polypropylene/montmorillonite nanocomposites (PPCNs) with 3% organophilic montmorillonite (OMMT) content were prepared via ultrasonic extrusion. The objective of present study was to investigate the effects of ultrasonic oscillations in processing on the morphology and property development of PPCNs. XRD and TEM results confirmed the intercalated structure of OMMT in conventional nanocomposite (without ultrasonic treatment) and ultrasonicated nanocomposite, but ultrasonic oscillations could make silicate layers finely dispersed and a little exfoliated. According to SEM, the OMMT particles were evenly and finely dispersed in the ultrasonicated nanocomposite via ultrasonic oscillations, and the aggregation size of clay particles was about 100nm, which is less than that in conventional nanocomposite. The crystalline dimension, crystalline morphology and the growth rate of crystallization in PPCNs were investigated by DSC and PLM, it was found that the OMMT particles and ultrasonic oscillations played an important role in the nucleation rate, crystallization temperature and spherulite size of PP matrix in nanocomposites. Compared with conventional nanocomposite, the mechanical properties of the ultrasonicated nanocomposite increased due to the improved dispersion of OMMT and diminished spherulite size. The thermal stability and the rheological behavior of PP and its nanocomposites were both studied by thermogravimetry and high pressure rheometer, respectively.

The effeect of weld line on the morphology and mechanical properties of 70/30 polystyrene and polyamide-6 blends with various amounts of poly (styrene-co-maleic anhydride)(SMA) as compatibilizer was investigated. For blends without or with low content of SMA, the dispersed domains near the weld line were elongated parallel to the weld line; and the dispersed domains in weld line were spherical. But for blend with high content of SMA, the isotropic morphology was observed. And the dierence of morphology at weld line caused the distinction of fracture mechanism. The tensile strength of the blend is greatly influenced by the morphology of dispersed domains at weld line. While the morphology has only slight effect on impact strength of the blends.

Three kinds of polymer/layered nanocomposites were prepared via ultrasonic extrusion. Experimental results showed that ultrasonic oscillations could mostly decrease the size and its distribution of clay particles in polymer matrix. Therefore, crystal size of polymer matrix decreases. For PA6-based nanocomposites with higher compatibility, the ultrasonic oscillations can also affect the microstructure of clay, causing more regions of exfoliated clay. Due to better dispersion of clay and smaller crystal size, the elongation at break of polymer/layered nanocomposites ultrasonically treated got greatly increased, meanwhile ultrasonic oscillations also improved their other mechanical properties, such as tensile and impact strength.

The ultrasonic degradation of polystyrene (PS) and ethyleneepropylene diene monomer (EPDM) melts was conducted in a specially designed reactor. A degradation model of polymer melts was proposed to explain the ultrasonic degradation, and degradation of polymer melts is treated as a mechanochemical process. Ultrasonic degradation kinetics obeys the equations: MTZMNCA e kt or ½h tZ½h NC ½h 0 ½h N e kt. The experimental results show that the molecular weight or intrinsic viscosity of polymer melts decreased with ultrasonic irradiation time and approached a limiting value, below which no further degradation took place. Dierent from ultrasonic degradation of polymer solutions, the scission of chains in polymer melts is random in the initial stage, and then non-random. FTIR spectra of samples ultrasonically treated and untreated confirmed that the initial product of ultrasonic degradation in polymer melts is a macroradical. The effects of ultrasonic intensity and reaction temperature on degradation of PS and EPDM melts were also investigated. The significant results showed that the degradation rate, the limiting value and degradation extent are correlated greatly with the experimental conditions.

The linear rheological properties of highdensity polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), and HDPE/PS (80/20) blends were used to characterize their structural development during extrusion in the presence of ultrasonic oscillations. The master curves of the storage shear modulus (G) and loss shear modulus (G) at 200℃ for HDPE, PS, and HDPE/PS (80/20) blends were constructed with time-temperature superposition, and their zero shear viscosity was determined from Cole-Cole plots of the outof-phase viscous component of the dynamic complex viscosity versus the dynamic shear viscosity. The experimental results showed that ultrasonic oscillations during extrusion reduced G and G as well as the zero shear viscosity of HDPE and PS because of their mechanochemical degradation in the presence of ultrasonic oscillations; this was con-firmed by molecular weight measurements. Ultrasonic oscillations increased the slopes of log G versus log G for HDPE and PS in the low-frequency terminal zone because of the increase in their molecular weight distributions. The slopes of log G versus log G for HDPE/PS (80/20) blends and an emulsion model were used to characterize the ultrasonic enhancement of the compatibility of the blends. The results showed that ultrasonic oscillations could reduce the interfacial tension and enhance the compatibility of the blends, and this was consistent with our previous work.