Study on the rheological behaviors of UHMWPE/CA‐MMT nanocomposite

In our previous study, we have prepared a novel antibacterial ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene/chlorhexidine acetate‐montmorillonoid (UHMWPE/CA‐MMT) composites and examined its crystallization process and kinetics [1]. In this work, the rheological behaviors of pure UHMWPE, UHMWPE/MMT, UHMWPE/CA, and UHMWPE/CA‐MMT were characterized. The results showed that MMT can increase the viscosity of the polymer composites and CA can act as a plasticizer in the composites. Compared with UHMWPE/CA, UHMWPE/CA‐MMT had lower η*, G′, and G″. The TGA result indicated that CA‐MMT has higher thermostability than CA. Hence, CA‐MMT has the lower thermal decomposition ratio at high temperature than CA when it is blended with polymer. The TGA result could be used to explain that UHMWPE/CA‐MMT composites had better plasticizer effect than UHMWPE/CA composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:47–50, 2015. © 2014 The Authors Polymer Composites published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.