This paper reports the results of studies on the rheological behavior of nanocomposites of high density polyethylene (HDPE) with\r\npristinemultiwall carbon nanotubes (CNT) as well as phenol and 1-octadecanol (C18) functionalized CNT at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 wt%\r\nloading. The viscosity reduction at 1 wt% CNT follows the order, pristine CNT < phenol functionalized CNT < C18 functionalized\r\nCNT. As the filler loading increases from 1 to 2, 3, and 4 wt%, neat HDPE and filled HDPE systems show similar moduli and\r\nviscosity, particularly in the low frequency region. As the filler loading increases further to 5 and 7 wt%, the viscosity and moduli\r\nbecome greater than the neatHDPE.Thestorage modulus, tan??, and the Cole-Cole plots show that CNT network formation occurs\r\nat higher CNT loading. The critical CNT loading or the rheological percolation threshold, where network formation occurs is\r\nfound to be strongly dependant on the functionalization of CNT. For pristine CNT, the rheological percolation threshold is around\r\n4 wt%, but for functionalized CNT it is around 7 wt%. The surface morphologies of CNT and functionalized CNT at 1 wt% loading\r\nshowed good dispersion while at 7 wt% loading, dispersion was also achieved, but there are few regions with agglomeration of\r\nCNT.
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