Effects of Interfacial Interactions and Nanoparticle Agglomeration on the Structural, Thermal, Optical, and Dielectric Properties of Polyethylene/Cr2O3 and Polyethylene/Cr2O3/CNTs Nanocomposites

Abstract

In this report, we have synthesized the binary and ternary phase nanocomposites [(polyethylene (PE)1?X/(Cr2O3)x) and (PE)1?X/(Cr2O3)X/CNTs (where X = 0,�2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%)] using the melt mixing method and studied the structural, optical, thermal and dielectric properties with an increase in Cr2O3 nanofiller concentration. Our results show an increase in interfacial interactions between Cr2O3 nanofiller and PE matrix with an increase in nanofiller concentration up to X = 6%. After that, the interactions decreased with a further increase in X because of the increase in the size of the Cr2O3 nanoparticle aggregates. Incorporating 2% carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into (PE)1?X/(Cr2O3)X nanocomposites, further decreases the interactions between the Cr2O3 nanofiller and the PE matrix. � 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.